Xbox tech boss says 'unacceptable' outage should not have affected disc games
Xbox technology chief Scott Van Vliet apologized for a 20-hour outage that prevented users from accessing physical disc-based games. The incident has reignited public debate regarding digital-only gaming futures and consumer ownership rights.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the risks of digital dependency in consumer electronics and the growing tension between corporate licensing models and user ownership.
Image source, Getty Images By Laura Cress Technology reporter Published 22 minutes ago Xbox's technology chief said an "unacceptable" outage on Monday should not have stopped people from playing their games on physical discs.
"We're looking into reports that some players were unable to access games using discs as expected during the service interruption," Scott Van Vliet said in a statement.
He said the outage, which lasted around 20 hours, was caused by a licensing issue failing to correctly check if a user was allowed to play a game.
It has poured further fuel onto the fire of fears about gaming's potentially digital future - after Xbox rival PlayStation faced an outage of its own on Friday .
"Disc-based entitlement checks should not prevent players from accessing their games and this is by design," Van Vliet said, originally reported by The Verge , external .
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