Xbox Outage Exposed Cloud Dependency of Disc-Based Games

A failed external licensing service caused a 17-hour Xbox outage starting July 27, disrupting sign-in, storefronts, and game launches across Xbox Series X/S, One, and 360. Disc-based games were blocked too, revealing they share the same cloud entitlement check as digital titles. CTO Scott Van Vliet called it an "unacceptable situation."