Yesterday was a big day for the gaming industry with the long-awaited release of the Xbox Series X and Series S. Both consoles are in very high demand, and many gamers have talked about how hard they had to work to get their hands on one.

However, while many did get their hands on one, it caused its own problems, as Xbox Live struggled to handle the influx of new logins.

Xbox Live, as many already know, is Microsoft's online gaming service. Whether it is playing with new gamers, purchasing and downloading new games, or anything else that requires an active Internet connection, it all goes through Xbox Live. Therefore, a server that is struggling due to extreme demand is not a good sign.

This is a common story with the launch of new online games and services. The day of the launch is a good time to start, because there is a huge influx of players trying to get online at the same time. Frustrating, to be sure, but even more so when you can't use the console you've just acquired properly. This is especially true for the all-digital Xbox Series S, which has no optical disc drive to rely on in such a situation.

Microsoft tweeted that it was aware of the problem and was working on a fix, before announcing that the issue had been resolved and users would be able to log into Xbox Live again.

It remains to be seen how things will play out over the next few days as more people receive and set up their new consoles. Hopefully, the launch date is merely temporary, as it was the first day the consoles became available. So things should settle down soon.

Of course, the PS5 launches tomorrow in the U.S. and Japan, and it is quite possible that players trying to access the PlayStation Network will find themselves in a similar situation: the PS5's staggered launch date should ease the strain on the servers. However, early data suggests that it is considerably more popular than the Xbox Series X, which could be the worst possible balance. Assuming, of course, that a sufficient number of people are able to place pre-orders that guarantee release day delivery.

Both the Xbox Series X and PS5 are expected to be in high demand for quite some time. With any bad luck, it will last beyond the holidays and into early 2021. Some retailers have confirmed that they will have PS5 in stock on launch day, and demand for the console is expected to level off now that the Xbox Series X launch is winding down.

Those who still need to get either console can save themselves the hassle of going back and forth between the various retailers, as they will have the latest Xbox Series X inventory and PS5 inventory updates.