Xbox has finally resolved a widespread outage that prevented players from connecting to Xbox Live, playing online games, downloading games, or using other services for several hours. “Users should no longer be encountering issues signing in to Xbox Live and services,” Xbox says in a post on X. “Thank you for your patience, game on!”
These issues with Xbox Live to have started around 2 PM ET, with Downdetector reports beginning to rise around that time. At around 3 PM ET, Xbob said that the company was “aware that some users have been disconnected from Xbox Live” and that the company started “investigating.”
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Xbox Live Suffers Major Outage
On its status page, the company said that Xbox’s account and profile services suffered a major outage. “You may not be able to sign in to your Xbox profile, may be disconnected while signed in, or have other related problems,” the notice read. “Features that require sign-in like most games, apps, and social activity won’t be available.”
At around 4:!0 PM ET, Xbox said its investigation was “taking longer than expected” and didn’t fix the issue until around 9 PM ET. It’s still unclear what was the reason behind the hours-long outage. Microsoft has yet to provide more information on the matter.
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Microsoft Announces Digital Xbox Consoles And New Games
Microsoft kicked off its annual Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, launching a new all-digital version of its Xbox Series X and S consoles. This seems like an important decision in the company’s ambitions to modernize its gaming hardware and cater to a budding digital-first audience.
Apart from the ordinary Series X and S models, Microsoft showcased a special edition of the Series X with a hopping 2TB storage. The exhibition is crucial for Xbox and Microsoft, as the gaming industry is seeing a rough patch.
Several game publishers are witnessing lower revenues, layoffs, and studio closures. The release of disc-less variants of the Xbox Series X and S could boost its sales, establishing Xbox as a worthy opponent to Sony’s PS5. The updated hardware portfolio is part of the company’s overall plan to attract gamers in the face of adverse market conditions.
During the event, Microsoft released trailers for over a dozen games, including the much-anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Besides, the company also showcased "Doom: The Dark Ages," the most recent installment in the popular "Doom" series. Fans also got to see the next "Gears of War" game, marking the end of a five-year wait for the console’s popular title.