UPDATE: All Xbox services seem to have been restored.

Original story follows.

Unfortunately for Xbox gamers, important features like party chat are not working at the time of this writing. Generally speaking, Xbox is a fairly reliable online service. Xbox gamers can typically count on being able to pop into online matches and talk with their friends over party chat with no issues. However, there are rare instances when Xbox experiences a hiccup or some kind of other service outage.

There are times when Xbox online services go down, making it difficult or outright impossible for fans to utilize their console to the fullest. Most of the time, Xbox online connectivity problems are addressed quickly. It remains to be seen how long it will take for Xbox to resolve the latest problems with its online services, however.

Xbox 360 Gets Unexpected Update

The Xbox 360 receives an unexpected update nearly a year after the beloved seventh-generation console's marketplace was shut down.

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By Raul Landaverde

Xbox is experiencing major issues on the evening of July 2, with over 2,000 users reporting issues on Down Detector. While gamers seem to be able to access their games and play online, there are problems inviting friends and with party chats. In my own experience, party chat seems to work for a few minutes before cutting out, and game invites are not working at all. Xbox has yet to acknowledge the issue on social media or the status report pages, but hopefully the problems are resolved sooner rather than later. Based on the Down Detector data, it seems the issues started around 7:00pm CST.