Xbox users around the world reported last week that some games on their consoles could not be started because of online DRM checks, prompting criticism of the platform’s digital-rights management policy.
What happened and Microsoft’s response
Players began complaining about being unable to launch certain titles. Microsoft acknowledged the issue and said on the Xbox Support Twitter account that users in Europe should no longer encounter errors when starting games or launching Cloud Gaming sessions.
“Users in Europe should no longer encounter errors when attempting to launch games and start Cloud Gaming sessions. Thank you for all of your reports and for sticking with us,” the company wrote in the tweet cited by Xbox Support.
Problems continue for some users
Despite Microsoft’s announcement, several users replied to the same post reporting that the issue persisted. Those complaints fueled renewed criticism of Xbox’s online DRM policy, which requires a successful online verification when a game is launched.
When a console cannot connect to the online services for any reason, the DRM check can fail and the affected game will not start. That behavior is exactly what many players experienced during the outage.
Scope and specific reports
The company highlighted Europe as the region mainly affected by server problems, but users from multiple regions reported difficulties. Among the specific complaints were players unable to start Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and at least one report of being unable to open the Xbox app on an Xbox Series X.
Why the DRM policy matters
The incident drew attention to how an online-validation requirement can render legally owned games unplayable when verification services are unavailable. For affected users, the outage meant temporary loss of access to games that depend on an online check at startup.
