Just a bit over a week after a major AWS outage, it seems something else is brewing –and not in a good way. Starbucks is currently experiencing an outage that has has completely taken down mobile ordering. Meaning, if you want a Cold Brew, an Iced Chai Latte, or even a warmed piece of banana bread, you'll need to chat with a barista in store.
At the same time that 'We're sorry for the inconvenience' hit the Starbucks app, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, and Minecraft are experiencing major blips – see our live blog here. Of course, impacted folks are all going to Downdetector, where a number of services are seeing a spike.
But since we're coffee lovers, we're spinning up a live blog to track this outage affecting Starbucks as well as the issues hitting Xbox and Minecraft, and the team at TechRadar is checking whether any other services are affected.
Starbucks is at least being transparent with the issue
Unlike some other companies or services, which tend to take a while to confirm issues or outages, Starbucks is at least being transparent. As soon as you open the Starbucks app on an Android or iOS device, you'll see a pop-up that starts with "We're sorry for the inconvenience" and explains that mobile ordering is down.
A look at Down Detector right now
Here's a look at Down Detector right now, which might show that things are improving, even though a vast swath of services is down.
While these might not be connected, the reports of issues and outages with Starbucks, Minecraft, and the Xbox Network do align with reports on Microsoft Azure. Although, we can't confirm that Starbucks uses the Azure cloud. While Starbucks is showing a drop-off, Xbox and Minecraft are still on the rise.
Reported issues with Minecraft are still high
While Starbucks outage reports are dropping, Down Detector is currently showing Minecraft at 6,670 and Xbox Network at 2,770 reported outages.
We can't load the Xbox Support site
Considering Azure referenced DNS issues – see our live blog dedicated to those issues here – it's not surprising that Xbox's official support site and the status page are unresponsive and won't load at all.
Folks aren't happy with Starbucks or Xbox being down
As we typically see with outages, impacted folks are taking to social to voice there frustration, and that goes for Starbucks and Xbox.
Starbucks app down on my birthday. Can’t even get my free drink. Help @StarbucksOctober 29, 2025
is it just me or is xbox downOctober 29, 2025
starbucks app being down on my birthday so i can’t get my free drink bc ofc it would I can’t have shiiii 🥲October 29, 2025
While I still can't get the Xbox support page to load, the web storefront does load, though it's missing a few parts. Images aren't rendering, and spacing is a bit off across the board.
Currently, Down Detector shows 3,123 reported outages with the Xbox Network as of 1:06 PM ET.
Fortnite acknowledges something is impacting players on Xbox Cloud
Well, we haven't heard from Xbox officially, but Fortnite basically just confirmed it for them. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the @FortniteStatus account states, "We are looking into login issues players on Xbox Cloud might be experiencing."
Further, Fortnite is working on a fix and promises to keep us updated; that's good news on both fronts.
⚠️We are looking into login issues players on Xbox Cloud might be experiencing. We are working on a fix and will let you know once this is resolved.October 29, 2025
Epic Games has updated its official status page to note issues that Xbox Cloud players might be encountering. Essentially, for some, they can't even log in.
Starbucks app users aren't happy
I've pulled together some more posts from folks who aren't the happiest with Starbucks – mainly that mobile ordering works by loading money onto your Starbucks card and placing the order there. Suffice to say, with mobile ordering down, you can't access that money.
I will give credit to Starbucks for being communicative with the splash screen in the app, and it seems that the Starbucks app itself is working. Seemingly, this mobile ordering outage might be connected to the broader Azure outage, which is clearly impacting the Xbox Network and Minecraft as well.
@starbucks why tf is the app down with my money in it??? I’m pissedOctober 29, 2025
@Starbucks you ruined my morning. I loaded money in my card yesterday. I also have a free drink. I get all the way through the drive-through just to find out your dumbass app isnt working. So I had to repay $25 all over again. And I didnt get the free drink.October 29, 2025
Locked out of serious work
That explains why I couldn't get into Minecraft, which annoys me because I was about to work on a city build I've been working on for months.October 29, 2025
This message gets to the heart of why people are especially worried about Minecraft being inaccessible – people pour the time and creativity into making the most elaborate labors of love there. And, of course, working on these projects is a relaxation mode for millions of people.
Being locked out suddenly throws off your plans. I hope you have some Lego sets lying around instead…
Who supports the support teams?
Who do you turn to when Xbox is having problems? The support site. And when the Azure outage takes down the support site? Ahhh, well that's a conundrum.
@XboxSupport Xbox app on PC won't let me install games and when I go to support to ask about it your support is down get your act together man pic.twitter.com/fTtRzOlKtFOctober 29, 2025
League of Legends appears to be having issues in the UK
While the Starbucks app (723) reported outages are dwindling, and reports for Minecraft (6,963) and Xbox Network (2,901) are still holding where we last reported, League of Legends just got a sharp spike up to over 1,000 reports on Down Detector in the UK.
Xbox's support site is clawing its way back online
Well, this is certainly an improvement. Xbox's official support site is at least loading, but not operational – it's showing a classic green Xbox logo with a spinning circle around it that seemingly never stops.
A step in the right direction, though!
It's not just online worlds…
Comment from r/Minecraft
Why does an OFFLINE game need an ONLINE launcher? from r/Minecraft
As the Reddit posts above note, Azure going down doesn't just mean online servers are taken out. Locally hosted servers that need to phone home to authenticate may also be screwed, even if you have no plans to play online.
Seizing the opportunity
I'm guessing that PlayStation was already running these PS5 ads on the Xbox subreddit, given the recent new closeness between Xbox and Sony, with Halo: Campaign Evolved making its way across the console divide.
Or maybe PlayStation just saw the opportunity in the last couple of hours and started reminding them they can play multiplayer just fine elsewhere today. That would be a low blow, though…
Microsoft rolls out a fix on Azure and recovery is beginning
While this doesn't necessarily mean that Minecraft, the Xbox Network, or even the Starbucks app might bounce back to normal operations, Microsoft has provided an update to Azure's issues today – October 29, 2025 – noting that a fix has been deployed.
However, the statement notes that "At this stage, we anticipate full mitigation within the next four hours as we continue to recover nodes. This means we expect recovery to happen by 23:20 UTC on 29 October 2025. We will provide another update on our progress within two hours, or sooner if warranted."
The point being, this could take hours to resolve.
Azure is back to over 98% availability, but Starbucks, Minecraft, and Xbox are all seeing impacts
We're a bit after Azure's promised, estimated time of restoration, and it's nearly there, hours after this major outage ensued and took out several other services. Azure states, "The AFD service is now operating above 98% availability. While the majority of customers and services are mitigated or seeing strong improvement across affected regions, we are continuing to work on tail-end recovery for remaining impacted customers and services. We have revised our mitigation time and are currently tracking toward full mitigation by 00:40 UTC on 30 October 2025, though we will communicate if mitigation is achieved sooner."
That still puts us a few hours away from a complete and total recovery for Azure, but what does that mean for the Starbucks app, Minecraft, and Xbox Network, among other services?
Well, reports on Down Detector for Starbucks have significantly decreased, but the app is still showing the same "We're sorry for the inconvenience" message, and mobile ordering is still down. It might be that Starbucks is waiting to turn this feature back on, and we've reached out to the coffee brand to ask for more details.
Xbox confirms a major outage
Minecraft is still seeing over 1,000 reported outages on Down Detector, while the Xbox Network is right under 300 reports. With the latter, the official status page for Xbox is finally back up and running, but it's not all good news.
Right now, it shows 'Account & Profile,' 'Store & subscriptions,' 'Cloud gaming & remote play,' 'Support & services,' as well as 'Games & gaming' are all experiencing a 'Major Outage' with no estimated resolution. We've reached out to Xbox asking for more clarification, but it's likely the service is still down for you and may not return until later this evening or earlier tomorrow morning.
Xbox now says everything's back to normal
Well, that was quick! Xbox has updated its official status page at 8:25 PM ET to show that all aspects of its operations are "Up and running." That's excellent news after hours of issues, including the inability to check the service's official status.
Down Detector is currently showing 260 reported outages as of 8:12 PM ET, down significantly from the peak of over 3,500 reports earlier today. Similarly, reports for Minecraft have dropped to 855 – still quite a bit more than on an average day, but it seems like issues are starting to resolve.
