Xbox Live, the online multiplayer gaming service for Xbox consoles, experienced a major outage on July 2nd, 2024, leaving gamers around the world frustrated and unable to connect. Reports of login issues and disconnections began surfacing around 2:15 pm ET.
Players encountered error messages, such as 0x87DD0033, when attempting to sign in. This prevented them from accessing online features in games, apps, and social functionalities on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Even the Xbox Cloud Gaming service, the mobile app, and the Xbox app on Windows were affected.
Microsoft, the company behind Xbox, acknowledged the issue through the Xbox Support Twitter account around 3:00 PM ET. They stated they were “aware that some users have been disconnected from Xbox Live”, and were investigating the cause.
The investigation, however, took longer than anticipated. The Xbox Status page indicated a major outage impacting Account and profile, hindering login attempts. While the exact cause remains unknown, some speculated it could be a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, but this was not confirmed by Microsoft.
Throughout the afternoon, gamers expressed their disappointment on social media. Many reported being unable to play their favorite online games or connect with friends. The outage highlighted the reliance of modern gaming on online services, leaving players feeling isolated and unable to enjoy their hobby.
By around 9 pm ET, the Xbox Status page finally displayed an All Clear message. The Xbox Support Twitter account also announced,
“Users should no longer be encountering issues signing into Xbox Live and services. Thank you for your patience, game on!”
While the service appears to be back up and running, some users might still experience lingering issues. Microsoft has yet to provide an official explanation for the outage or details on what caused the extended resolution time.
