Azure is in recovery following an outage that affected Microsoft 365, Xbox and Minecraft

Microsoft Azure, a major cloud service, experienced an outage impacting various services including Microsoft 365, Xbox, and Minecraft. The outage reports spiked around 12 PM ET, indicating the onset of technical issues. Microsoft initiated recovery efforts, including deploying a "last known good configuration" and rerouting traffic. Users reported difficulties with Game Pass on Xbox consoles and limited access to productivity apps. The outage also affected Microsoft support pages and some airline websites, causing widespread disruption. Microsoft acknowledged the issue, citing an impact on Azure Front Door, a content delivery network. The company expected full recovery by 6:20 PM ET, suggesting a relatively swift resolution. Customers were advised to check service health alerts for updates. The Azure outage was less severe than a recent Amazon Web Services outage. Microsoft is actively working to resolve the problem and restore full service functionality. The situation demonstrates the potential impact of cloud service disruptions on various digital platforms.