Why did Prime Gaming download speeds drop by 55%?

Introduction

The sudden 55% drop in Prime Gaming download speeds is a critical issue that demands immediate attention. This significant performance degradation could severely impact user experience, retention, and ultimately, the product's success. I'll approach this problem systematically, focusing on identifying the root cause, validating hypotheses, and developing both short-term fixes and long-term solutions.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• Looking at the severity of the drop, I'm thinking this might be a recent issue. When exactly did we first notice this 55% decrease in download speeds?

Why it matters: Timing could help correlate the issue with recent changes or events. Expected answer: Within the last week or two. Impact on approach: Recent timing would focus our investigation on recent changes or events.

• Considering the nature of gaming downloads, I'm wondering if this affects all games or specific titles. Are we seeing this 55% drop across all games or is it concentrated in certain titles or game sizes?

Why it matters: This helps determine if it's a systemic issue or related to specific content. Expected answer: The issue affects all games to some degree. Impact on approach: A universal problem would point towards infrastructure or global settings rather than game-specific issues.

• Given the complexity of our infrastructure, I'm curious about our content delivery network (CDN). Have we made any recent changes to our CDN configuration or providers?

Why it matters: CDN changes could directly impact download speeds. Expected answer: No recent major CDN changes. Impact on approach: If there were changes, we'd focus on CDN-related issues; if not, we'd look elsewhere in the infrastructure.

• Thinking about user experience, I'm concerned about user complaints. Have we seen an increase in support tickets or negative feedback related to download speeds?

Why it matters: User feedback can provide qualitative data to support our quantitative findings. Expected answer: Yes, there's been a noticeable increase in complaints. Impact on approach: This would confirm the issue's impact on users and potentially provide additional insights into the problem.