Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Technology
Dani Oh

Xbox Outage Raises an Uncomfortable Question: Do You Really Own Your Games?

The Xbox outage left some players unable to launch purchased games after Microsoft's licence verification systems failed, highlighting the limits of digital ownership. (Credit: XBOX/YouTube Screenshot)

An Xbox outage that stopped players from launching games they had already paid for has reignited concerns about digital ownership, after Microsoft's authentication systems left parts of users' libraries inaccessible for more than 12 hours.

The disruption meant that, for many Xbox owners, titles stored on their consoles could not be played unless Microsoft's servers confirmed their licences.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.