Summary
SomeXboxgames and services are currently down on PC and consoles. TheXboxoutages began on Friday and are yet to be fully resolved as of the early afternoon hours ET on Sunday, February 18.
The first of the still-ongoing issues was reported on Friday evening ET, when some Xbox console owners found themselves unable to launchCall of Duty: Black Ops 2. Another problem emerged just four hours later with thePC version ofSea of Thieves, which started refusing downloads via the Xbox app.
Xbox Is ‘Close to Resolving’ Sea of Thieves and Black Ops 2 Issues
Although neither incident has yet been resolved as of 2pm ET on February 18, Microsoft just confirmed it has finished investigating both issues and is “close to resolving” them. But while those probes were still ongoing, an even bigger problem cropped up in thePC Xbox app, which is now notifying users that they may encounter errors when trying to download or install any game rather than justSea of Thieves.
The platform-wide issues began around 9am ET on February 17, according to Microsoft’s support pages. Although the in-app notice indicates that the outage is limited to preventing downloads, some users areclaimingthat their entire game libraries have now disappeared. However, those complaints are few and far between, with most social media accounts of the outage matching Microsoft’s exact description of the issue. Game Rant’s testing suggests that while some titles are currently indeed unavailable for download via the Xbox PC app, they can be installed via the Microsoft Store without a hitch. This appears to be the case withForza Horizon 4,Forza Horizon 5, and all editions ofMinecraft.
Users having issues with downloading purchased games via the Xbox PC app may want to try installing them from the Microsoft Store, which doesn’t seem to be experiencing any problems as of February 18, circa 2:40pm ET.
This workaround only helps with downloading games that users actually own and thus have tied to their Microsoft Accounts. Meanwhile, titles bundled with thePC Game Pass subscriptionrequire the Xbox app to install and play. Those paying for the Ultimate tier of the service who are currently affected by the outage may want to rely on Xbox Cloud Gaming until the issues are resolved, as the streaming platform currently doesn’t seem to be experiencing any problems. That is, if their internet speeds allow for game streaming in the first place.
Microsoft’s support pages indicate that the ongoing issues are global in nature. Historically, the company hasmanaged to deal with most similar Xbox service outagesin a matter of hours. This particular batch of problems is hence also likely to be resolved by the end of the day.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft’s flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you may play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.
