Xbox is preparing an update to fix an issue that left some players unable to use physical game discs during a recent network outage.
The outage affected several Xbox online services and also stopped some downloaded games from launching. Physical games were affected for a different reason, with certain consoles unable to access the saved entitlements meant to let disc-based titles run while services are offline.
Xbox Identified the Problem With Disc Entitlements
In a statement to The Verge, Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet acknowledged reports from players who could not access their disc-based games during the outage.
Xbox consoles perform entitlement checks for disc-based games. Van Vliet said those checks are not supposed to block access during an outage, since the system is designed to rely on saved entitlements when online services are unavailable.
The company has found an issue affecting some consoles’ ability to reach those saved licenses. Xbox plans to include a fix in an upcoming system update, though no release date for that update was provided.
Entitlements are the digital rights licenses associated with the content on a physical disc. When the system cannot retrieve the saved entitlement correctly, inserting the disc may not be enough to start the game, even though the player owns the physical copy.
Xbox has not shared further details about which consoles were affected or whether the fix will require any action from players once the update arrives.
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