Titanfall Pre-Orders Cancelled In South Africa: Azure MIA
It would appear that – as the internet is required to play Titanfall no matter where you play it – weak performance in South Africa has prompted cancellations of pre-orders. At the moment it does not appear that this has happened in any other region in which Titanfall is being sold, only in South Africa. While previous reports had South Africa on the map for a sure launch in the area for Titanfall, this week we're to understand that, even with the advanced actions of Microsoft in the area of Azure datacenter services in the area, they just weren't quick enough.
Harkening back to a Microsoft South Africa note sent to MyGaming back on February 12th, word was that Titanfall would be distributed in the region, but that service wouldn't exactly be ideal as true Azure service wouldn't be available. "A vast worldwide network of Microsoft Datacenteres" helps Azure cover the earth, but South Africa isn't perfect quite yet.
"Microsoft is currently providing Azure services for South African customers through a vast worldwide network of Microsoft Datacentres. This allows us to provide world class service levels and deliver on financially backed Service Level Agreements.
This worldwide network of Datacentres currently does not include a South African deployment due to the high Service Levels currently being experienced by our South African customers." – Microsoft South Africa Spokesperson
Meanwhile the most recent note sent to pre-order users comes from Origin. The team at Origin is responsible for hosting Titanfall for high-powered gaming PCs, and here they suggest that "the Titanfall team" has decided "not to release Titanfall there at this time." This letter was sent to a South Africa gamer who sent MP1ST a note with a screenshot, which you're seeing here.
Again, it would appear that South Africa is the only region where Titanfall is being cancelled at the moment. Based on what we experienced in our Titanfall Beta first-impressions run, Azure and the whole server situation is ready to roll here in the United States.