Editor’s Note: Services have returned as of 7:21 PM PT.
Sign-in functions for Microsoft’s Xbox Live service failed Tuesday into the afternoon, preventing users from signing in to and playing Xbox games on the console and PC.
Microsoft’s Xbox Live service page acknowledged an error at about 11:07:00 AM PT, and a “related issue” at 2:38 PM PT as well. The error was confined to the “account and profile” section of the status page.
“You may not be able to sign-in to your Xbox profile, may be disconnected while signed in, or have other related problems,” the page read at press time, noting that a resolution was “pending.” “Features that require sign-in like most games, apps and social activity won’t be available.”
An error message also appeared on the Xbox app for the PC, which acknowledged the service issue. (My PC had an update to the app pending, but downloading didn’t resolve the issue, either.)
The inability to sign in to Xbox Live was handled in different ways by different games. The venerable Solitaire was playable, though I was unable to sign in and save my progress to the cloud. I could flip cards in Klondike with nary a problem.
A more conventional and up-to-date game, Brotato, was totally unplayable, however, and wouldn’t load without an Xbox sign-in. That will probably be the case for Xbox console users as well as PC players who use the Xbox service to download and play “free” games from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service — that is, until Microsoft fixes the issue.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.