Call of Duty: Black Ops III Xbox issues spell trouble for Microsoft

Beta testing has begun for the latest instalment of one of the world's biggest video games, Call of Duty, but many Xbox One players have found themselves excluded from the sneak peek, due to downloading issues.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III went live successfully across PS4 and PC, offering fans a chance to look behind the curtain of the forthcoming edition of the first-person shooter. But many Xbox One fans have found themselves unable to get online.

Despite a fix being offered by one enterprising YouTuber, many players remain unable to get the codes required to enter the game, The Independent reports.

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Microsoft updated its status page yesterday, with a message promising to fix the issue as swiftly as possible. "Hey Xbox members, we are aware that some of you may be experiencing issues redeeming your beta tokens for Call of Duty: Black Ops III," the site said. "We are working closely with our partner to get this resolved ASAP!"

Call of Duty remains one of the dominant forces in modern gaming, with a huge fan base matched only by that of a handful of other games such as the anarchic Grand Theft Auto series and the dominant Fifa football franchise.

The annual update of Call of Duty is a huge event on the entertainment calendar, accompanied by an advertising campaign bigger than that for most blockbuster movies. Each instalment of Call of Duty also generates billions in revenues for Call of Duty's publisher Activision.

This makes the problems some players have been experiencing a significant issue for Microsoft, whose latest console, the Xbox One, continues to lag well behind Sony's next generation console, the PS4.

According to Forbes, a "workaround" solution has now been found which should let most players into the Call of Duty Beta.

YouTuber, Alvix99 FULL HD, posted a video explaining that entry codes can be made to work by logging in using an Xbox account (rather than an Xbox One account) and changing the region to Brazil.

The beta test of the highly anticipated game began on August 26 and will run until August 31.