Plants vs Zombies GW2 load times on Series X have dramatically increased

[budkin]

When my son first downloaded the game on Game Pass a couple weeks ago. It used to take about 30 seconds max for the game to load. Then one day last week it started taking at least 3-4 minutes for the game to start, often pausing on a completely black screen and then continuing to load after the "Contacting EA servers" prompt went away. We've tried clearing cache and even reinstalling the game with no resolution. Other backwards compatible games don't seem to have this long load issue.

[EA_Aljo]

Hi there, @budkin.

Thanks for reaching out to us about this. I'd like you to power cycle your equipment with the following steps: unplug your modem, router and console. After 2 minutes plug in the modem and router. Let them come back online completely. Then plug in your console and start it up. Let me know if that helps or not. Thanks!

[Gormey]

@EA_Aljo No, this is a wide issue that needs to be looked into. Happening for me also on Series S.

[budkin]

@EA_Aljo Confirming that this doesn't help. It's definitely software related.

[Gormey]

@budkin Same thing happened on Call of Duty and it took a month to fix so I'm not holding my breath for this game, just start the game, get a coffee or beer and come back I guess.

[PerniciousPea]

@EA_Aljo Have exactly the same problem on my spanking new XBox X.

Could it be server related or is it just a lack of maintenance seeing that the game is no longer supported? 

[EA_Aljo]

@PerniciousPea 

Those servers are still up and running with players on them so I'm not seeing any issues on our end currently. Do you have the game installed on an internal or external hard drive?

[imdtarget]

@EA_Aljo I've done this several times. I've also totally re-downloaded the game. I've had load times over 5 minutes. The OP describes what is happening to me exactly. (wired Xbox Series X)

[EA_Aljo]

@imdtarget 

Let's see if alternate DNS settings will help. From the Xbox One screen, go to Settings > Network > Advanced settings > DNS settings > Manual. (If Settings doesn't appear on the home screen, select My Games & Apps, then Settings). From there, enter the Primary DNS as "208.67.222.222" and the Secondary DNS as "208.67.220.220". If that doesn't help, try using the google DNS servers which are: primary alt number 8.8.8.8 - secondary alt number 8.8.4.4. Let me know how it goes. Thank you.

[imdtarget]

I also have an Xbox One X and the game loads on it as it always has.