Kotaku reports on the UFC on XBox Live debacle that occurred this Friday for UFC 141. There were difficulties with the system and viewers were instructed by XBox to find alternatives to watching the PPV.
Bitmob has an account of the problem:
Due to technical issues with the 30,000 promotional freebies Microsoft had sent out, the UFC on Xbox Live app wouldn’t load for a lot of people; would continuously crash or reset to an earlier point in that night’s event (with no way to fast forward to live broadcasting); would constantly switch between high definition, standard definition, and Vaseline-all-over-your-TV-screen definition (generally preferring the latter); would stutter and pause while trying to buffer; etc.
Microsoft has issued an apology via Bitmob:
The broadcast of UFC 141 through the UFC for Xbox LIVE application was hampered by technical issues appearing in the hours leading up to the fight. Despite restoring service to some users during the course of UFC 141, there is a great deal of room for improvement. All 30,00 users who registered to view UFC 141 for free will be provided access to a future fight at no cost.
We want to ensure that the 30,000 giveaway recipients for UFC 141 have an optimal experience with UFC on Xbox LIVE, and we are currently working with our partners at the UFC to ensure we deliver just that. The gamertags of the 30,000 users who registered for UFC 141 are being safely kept on file for free access to a future UFC event, and we will have more updates to share in the near future.
Payout Perspective:
Originally, the announcement that the UFC would be on XBox was slated for UFC 140, then it was moved to December 20th. Perhaps there was a reason the start date was moved back.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant and the service was slow and food bad that you declare that you’d never return? This may be a similar case unless Microsoft and the UFC do something to instill trust in its service and make people want to come back.
Not only does this episode cast a cloud on the XBox on UFC, it also makes a statement about XBox’s television service. As we indicated, the difficulties are a blow to the XBox and UFC relationship as the problem hurts consumer trust and they must do something to make good for the many fans that attempted to utilize the new service. Certainly, good public relations must take place for customers to come back to use the service.
Ah I knew I wasn’t the only one with tech issues! after ordering the fight on ufc.tv as I always do around 6:30 i went back to watching the prelims. Once the fight started the UFC.tv site was completely down, Yahoo.com was unable to access the PPV and there were some cable providers with tech issues as well. This is the first time that Ive encountered anything like this and I hope whoever is in charge of broadcasting gets their shyt together or the UFC is gonna have serious issues down the road
I never pay for the UFC since I don’t have cable or satellite I am forced to either go to a bar or stream it online. This was the first one I was hoping to watch via the Xbox but unfortunately the illegal streams are more reliable so no way I will pay $45 for this. I will continue to watch at a bar and if I can’t make it I will be forced to stream. UFC should have partnered with apple. At least apple can get streaming right since they have enormous data capabilities
love mma, a lot. but cant justify paying 45 bucks to see a few fights that will be in full on unleashed within a month.
i mean really, with the amount of events now, the price of the ppv’s are waaaaay too high. lower it to 25 bucks, and even that is questionable.