ARC Raiders, Fortnite & Rocket League Hit by Major Outage

A significant disruption has impacted several major online gaming services, with players reporting widespread login failures and connectivity problems. Social media platforms and outage tracking sites lit up with complaints from users unable to access popular titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, and the newly released ARC Raiders. The issue appears to be linked to the Epic Games ecosystem, which powers these services. While speculation pointed toward an Amazon Web Services (AWS) problem, the cloud provider has officially stated its systems are operating normally, attributing the speculation to an unrelated internet event.

Reports from Downdetector indicated a sharp spike in problem reports, with thousands of users in the United States noting issues. For ARC Raiders specifically, the number of reported outages surged dramatically. The primary symptom across affected games involves network timeout errors, preventing connections to game servers. Players are encountering messages stating servers are not responding and experiencing failures during matchmaking attempts.

The Epic Games Store has also been affected, with users facing difficulties completing purchases or redeeming codes. This suggests a broader problem within Epic’s online infrastructure rather than isolated game server failures. The connectivity issues extend to other titles that rely on Epic Online Services, including Fall Guys, where login and matchmaking are disrupted.

Interestingly, the problem’s reach may extend beyond the Epic universe. Some reports indicate partial outages on the PlayStation Network and the Steam platform, particularly for games that utilize cross-platform functionality. This points to a potential widespread internet routing or domain name system (DNS) issue that is interrupting how game clients communicate with central servers.

For players currently locked out, the recommended course of action is patience. Server-side errors like the common ART00004 Network Timeout message in ARC Raiders cannot be fixed by users and require developer intervention. Repeatedly attempting to log in is not advised, as this can sometimes trigger automated security systems. The best approach is to monitor official communication channels for updates. Checking the Epic Games status page or the official social media accounts for specific games, such as @FortniteStatus, will provide the most accurate information on resolution progress.

Historically, similar outages affecting these services have been resolved within a few hours. This incident echoes a previous major disruption last October, which was confirmed by Amazon to be an AWS outage. That event impacted a wide array of websites and applications, including social media platforms, by affecting a core subsystem responsible for network load balancers. It caused a cascade failure that made critical cloud database services temporarily unreachable.

While the current situation shares symptoms with past cloud service problems, AWS has been clear in its assessment this time. The company directs users to its official Health Dashboard for real-time service status, maintaining that the speculation about an AWS outage is inaccurate. As developers work to restore full connectivity, players are advised to wait for official all-clear notifications before attempting to re-enter their games.

(Source: Hindustan Times)