[Update - October 30, 6:07 AM ET] The issues Microsoft's Azure cloud service experienced yesterday have been solved, and all affected services, including Xbox game downloads are now back online. Original story follows.
[Original Story] Microsoft's Azure cloud service is experiencing a massive outage affecting multiple services, including Xbox game downloads and Minecraft.
Microsoft confirmed the cause in an Azure status update, stating the widespread connectivity issues began around 16:00 UTC. The company attributed the trigger event to "an inadvertent configuration change" in the Azure Front Door (AFD) service.
Several concurrent actions are being taken to solve the issue, but the Azure outage is still ongoing at the time of writing, and Xbox game publishers have started warning users about potential problems. On Bluesky, Obsidian Entertainment confirmed that due to the continuing outage, The Outer Worlds 2 may be temporarily unavailable for purchase or installation on Xbox consoles and PC. The publisher added that the issue is affecting all Xbox games, including online games such as Minecraft, whose down status is confirmed by multiple online reports as well as by Down Detector.
Unfortunately, no estimation of when the services will return online has been provided. We will update this post once more information is available and when the outage has been resolved.
Today's Microsoft Azure cloud service outage follows last week's massive AWS outage, which took down almost half the internet, including PSN, Fortnite, and Roblox. The issues that led to the outage were resolved in a matter of hours, and all affected services were promptly brought back online.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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