Summary
- Xbox console owners are currently having issues launching Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, while Sea of Thieves is refusing downloads on PC.
- Microsoft says it's "close to resolving" both of those problems, but another service interruption has emerged in the meantime, preventing PC gamers from installing other titles via the Xbox app.
- The platform-wide issues are still being investigated, but can seemingly be circumvented by downloading games via Microsoft Store instead of the Xbox app.
Some Xbox games and services are currently down on PC and consoles. The Xbox outages began on Friday and are yet to be fully resolved as of the early afternoon hours ET on Sunday, February 18.
The first of the still-ongoing issues was reported on Friday evening ET, when some Xbox console owners found themselves unable to launch Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Another problem emerged just four hours later with the PC version of Sea of Thieves, which started refusing downloads via the Xbox app.
Xbox Is 'Close to Resolving' Sea of Thieves and Black Ops 2 Issues
Although neither incident has yet been resolved as of 2pm ET on February 18, Microsoft just confirmed it has finished investigating both issues and is "close to resolving" them. But while those probes were still ongoing, an even bigger problem cropped up in the PC Xbox app, which is now notifying users that they may encounter errors when trying to download or install any game rather than just Sea of Thieves.
All Ongoing Xbox Outages as of February 18
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Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 cannot launch on Xbox consoles
- Reported on February 16, 20:25pm ET
- Xbox is "close to resolving the issue" as of February 18, 2:10pm ET
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Xbox PC app unable to download or install Sea of Thieves
- Reported on February 17, 12am ET
- Xbox is "close to resolving the issue" as of February 18, 2:10pm ET
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Xbox PC app unable to download or install other games
- Reported on February 17, 8:52am ET
- Xbox is still investigating the issue as of February 18, 2:10pm ET
The platform-wide issues began around 9am ET on February 17, according to Microsoft's support pages. Although the in-app notice indicates that the outage is limited to preventing downloads, some users are claiming that their entire game libraries have now disappeared. However, those complaints are few and far between, with most social media accounts of the outage matching Microsoft's exact description of the issue. The Best War Games's testing suggests that while some titles are currently indeed unavailable for download via the Xbox PC app, they can be installed via the Microsoft Store without a hitch. This appears to be the case with Forza Horizon 4, Forza Horizon 5, and all editions of Minecraft.
Users having issues with downloading purchased games via the Xbox PC app may want to try installing them from the Microsoft Store, which doesn't seem to be experiencing any problems as of February 18, circa 2:40pm ET.
This workaround only helps with downloading games that users actually own and thus have tied to their Microsoft Accounts. Meanwhile, titles bundled with the PC Game Pass subscription require the Xbox app to install and play. Those paying for the Ultimate tier of the service who are currently affected by the outage may want to rely on Xbox Cloud Gaming until the issues are resolved, as the streaming platform currently doesn't seem to be experiencing any problems. That is, if their internet speeds allow for game streaming in the first place.
Microsoft's support pages indicate that the ongoing issues are global in nature. Historically, the company has managed to deal with most similar Xbox service outages in a matter of hours. This particular batch of problems is hence also likely to be resolved by the end of the day.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft's flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.
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