Massive AWS outage disrupts Microsoft 365, Xbox, Minecraft, and more

A major internet disruption hit millions of users as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, two of the world’s biggest cloud platforms, went offline, affecting everything from Xbox Live to Outlook.

The outage, which began around 11:30am ET, caused widespread chaos across major services including Microsoft 365, Minecraft, Starbucks, Costco, and Kroger.

Social media quickly exploded with complaints, as frustrated users flooded X (formerly Twitter). 

One user quipped, “First AWS, now Azure goes down. I love it when big companies own half the internet!”

According to Downdetector, a website that tracks real-time outages, problem reports surged sharply for both AWS and Microsoft products, confirming a global-scale disruption rather than isolated failures.

At one point, there were more than 900 AWS outage reports, with users citing issues in regions like eu-west-1, eu-north-1, and CloudFront.

Particularly, gamers felt the blow. Minecraft players were left stranded mid-game, with one user humorously complaining on Downdetector, “My family is in turmoil — Minecraft is down!”

It is worth mentioning that this isn’t the first time AWS has sent the internet into meltdown.

Earlier this month, a similar outage crippled major apps including Snapchat, Roblox, Canva, and Fortnite, underscoring how deeply the world depends on just a few tech giants to stay online.