Xbox outage blocked some disc games during service disruption
Microsoft’s Xbox status page said an extended outage affected sign-ins, apps, store access and some digital and disc games.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
An Xbox outage affected disc games as well as digital access, according to Microsoft’s Xbox status page and reporting by The Verge. The disruption mattered because some players who owned physical copies still ran into play problems during a service failure that began Sunday evening.
Microsoft’s status page first listed the incident at about 11PM ET on Sunday, The Verge reported. The same page said users could have trouble signing in, opening apps and finding games in the Xbox store.
By Monday morning, Microsoft’s status page said users might also have trouble playing digital games and games on disc, according to The Verge. Social media posts cited by The Verge showed players reporting disc-game problems during the outage.
Why did the Xbox outage affect disc games?
Xbox consoles can still depend on online checks for some game access, including license and compatibility verification, depending on the title and account status. The Verge reported that the outage showed how authentication systems can affect even physical copies when a console or service needs to confirm access.
The Verge’s Richard Lawler was able to start digital games he owned during the incident, according to the report. Games connected to Game Pass failed for him with error code 0x87e107df, which indicated that Xbox could not verify the license.
Microsoft’s status page later said disc-based games should work again, The Verge reported. The page still warned that users might have issues with digital games and backward-compatible games.
Xbox Support said on X at 2:03PM ET that its teams were working through several lines of investigation. In a 2:41PM ET post, the account said the situation was gradually getting better and apologized for how long the problem had continued.
The Verge said Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Xbox had not provided a public explanation for the cause of the outage in the details reported by The Verge.
What does this mean for physical Xbox games?
The incident raised fresh attention on how much modern console play can depend on online systems, even when a game is bought on a disc. The Verge’s Tom Warren recently reported that Xbox is testing a feature that would give users a digital copy of games they own physically.
That kind of feature could make disc libraries easier to use without swapping media, according to the reported test. The outage also highlighted the risk of tying more access to remote checks when Xbox services are unavailable.
The service disruption came after Xbox announced major layoffs earlier in July, The Verge reported. Microsoft’s public outage updates focused on restoring Xbox service rather than linking the incident to any staffing or operational change.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.