The holiday season proved to be rather a rough period for Microsoft's X-box Live service. X-Box Live gamers reported problems that restricted or interrupted use of the service over the holidays.

The traditional Christmas tree, Christmas pudding, an array of gifts and even new computer games may have all been there, but unfortunately, there were some disappointed X-box Live customers over the holidays. Many X-Box Live gamers were unable to access the live service to try out their new games. The last week of 2007 produced problems for many X-Box Live users, ranging from timeouts to signing in difficulties. Understandably, this would be a very frustrating occurrence for gamers who were on vacation and wished to spend their free time playing with new or old software.

It is reported that Major Nelson, part of the X-Box Live team, updated his blog stating that "while the service was never completely offline, problems like this are not acceptable". In addition, at the end of December, Major Nelson suggested that the large numbers of new members and online Live players had contributed to such problems. He added that the X-Box Live team was doing everything to ensure an excellent Live experience for customers and that they would continue to work.

It is now believed that the majority of the problems have been resolved and that the X-Box Live service has returned to regular operation. This is perhaps little consolation for disappointed holiday gamers who were unable to enjoy an uninterrupted Live service, but it is nevertheless good to know that things are now back to normal.