THQ’s Struggles with WWE 12 Online Causes Concern to Grow for UFC 3
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With a history of poor online performance, which came courtesy of the decision to allow GameSpy to host, THQ made the decision to transition to their own servers for WWE 12 and the upcoming UFC Undisputed 3. The results so far have been beyond troubling – those who have WWE 12 have grown increasingly frustrated while anyone looking forward to UFC 3 now has to be much more worried about the situation that will be faced come release in February.
Since arriving two weeks ago gamers have more often than not found themselves unable to utilize any online functionality for WWE 12. The servers have been either down or overloaded making it difficult to get online matches in. Beyond just that however has been the inability to access the Community Creations feature which has drawn the most outrage from WWE 12 owners.
Back when UFC 2010 released it did so with all sorts of online problems. Crippling lag, difficulty connecting to fights and frequent disconnects, wins and losses not recording properly, the “Fight Camps” mode not working right, and much more plagued the experience. Over time things improved but it was still far from an ideal online experience.
Remember, both UFC and WWE utilize an “online pass”, so THQ has accepted the responsibility that all online features and performance have to live up to a much higher standard. Online can no longer be an afterthought and issues must be resolved and in quick fashion.
As evidenced over the years a bad online experience doesn’t mean the next release will be much, if any, better. Certain companies, developers, or specific series that have had problems have largely continued to have them over the years (such as The Show and NBA 2K). THQ is going through the growing pains of a server transition that they apparently were unprepared for and that may have been inevitable but is still inexcusable. Whether the struggles with WWE 12 will mean similar problems with UFC 3, or that the time spent now implementing fixes will actually help for that game, depends on how optimistic or pessimistic one chooses to be.