December 25, 2025 — What was supposed to be a day of holiday gaming and digital celebrations has turned into a widespread technical nightmare for millions of players. A massive service disruption has taken down some of the world’s most popular online titles, including Fortnite, Rocket League, and the highly anticipated extraction shooter ARC Raiders.

While initial reports from thousands of frustrated users on platforms like Downdetector pointed toward a catastrophic failure of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the situation has become a complex “he-said, she-said” between the cloud giant and the gaming industry’s biggest players.

The Blackout: Which Games Are Down?

The outage began late on Christmas Eve and spiked during the early morning hours of Christmas Day. The impact is primarily centred on the Epic Games ecosystem, but the ripple effects have touched nearly every corner of the online gaming world.

Epic Games Ecosystem

• Fortnite: Players are reporting widespread login failures and “Servers Not Responding” messages. Matchmaking is currently non-functional for many, leaving players stuck in the lobby.
• Rocket League: Authentication through Epic Online Services (EOS) is failing, preventing players from joining competitive matches or accessing their inventories.
• Fall Guys: Similar login and matchmaking errors have been reported across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• Epic Games Store: Even the storefront is struggling, with users unable to redeem holiday “free games” or complete V-Bucks purchases.

The ARC Raiders Crisis

Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders has been hit particularly hard, with nearly 35,000 users reporting the dreaded ART00004 Network Timeout error. This error prevents any connection to the game’s backend services, effectively locking players out of the “Cold Snap” holiday event.

Non-Epic Services

• Steam: Reports indicate that Steam’s authentication servers have faced intermittent outages, making it difficult for users to launch online-only titles.
• PlayStation Network (PSN): While not completely dark, PSN has experienced “partial outages” that are specifically affecting cross-platform titles that rely on third-party authentication.

AWS Denies Responsibility: “False Speculation”

As “AWS Down” began trending on social media, Amazon Web Services issued a rare and direct rebuttal. In a statement released through their official channels, AWS claimed that its infrastructure is operating at 100% capacity.

“No, that’s false. AWS services are operating normally today, but an event elsewhere on the internet has prompted some inaccurate speculation on social media. The only resource on the internet that provides accurate data on the availability of our services is the #AWS Health Dashboard.”

Industry analysts suggest that while AWS itself may be healthy, a “middle-man” service—such as a specific Content Delivery Network (CDN) or a shared authentication layer like EasyAntiCheat (EAC)—might be the true culprit. Some players have noted that the errors specifically mention “EAC not instantiated,” suggesting the issue lies with the security software used to protect these games.

How to Fix the ARC Raiders ART00004 Error

If you are currently staring at a timeout screen, there are a few “quick wins” you can try to bypass local routing issues. However, if the problem is strictly server-side, you will likely have to wait for a developer patch.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting:

1. Check the Status Page: Before changing your settings, visit status.epicgames.com or the official @ARCRaidersGame X account.
2. The DNS Swap: Many routing issues can be solved by switching to a public DNS.
   • Google DNS: Primary 8.8.8.8 | Secondary 8.8.4.4
   • Cloudflare DNS: Primary 1.1.1.1
3. Flush Your DNS (PC Users):
   • Open Command Prompt as Admin.
   • Type ipconfig /flushdns and hit Enter.
4. Verify Game Files: On Steam or Epic, right-click the game, go to Properties > Installed Files, and select Verify Integrity. This ensures no corrupted data is triggering the timeout.
5. Power Cycle: Unplug your router for 30 seconds. This forces your ISP to assign a new path to the game’s servers.

The Road Ahead: When Will Servers Be Back?

Historically, massive holiday outages are resolved within 1 to 3 hours, though the backlog of login requests can cause “queueing” issues long after the initial fix. Gamers are advised to avoid repeated login attempts, which can sometimes trigger automated “account flags” for suspicious activity.

Frequently Asked Questions: Christmas Day 2025 Gaming Outage

The 2025 holiday season has been marred by a massive digital disruption affecting millions of gamers. Below are the most frequent questions regarding the current status of Fortnite, Rocket League, and ARC Raiders.

🛑 Why are the servers down today, December 25, 2025?

A widespread authentication failure began on the afternoon of December 24 and has continued into Christmas Day. While initial reports blamed an Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage, AWS has officially denied this, stating that its services are normal. The disruption appears centred on Epic Online Services (EOS), which handles logins and matchmaking for dozens of major titles.

🎮 Which games and services are currently affected?

The primary victims are within the Epic Games ecosystem, but the “ripple effect” has touched other platforms:

• Fortnite: Complete login failures and matchmaking errors.
• ARC Raiders: Tens of thousands of reports of the ART00004 error.
• Rocket League: Unable to join matches or authenticate accounts.
• Fall Guys: Server connection timeouts across all consoles and PC.
• Steam & PlayStation Network: Intermittent login lag for games using cross-platform authentication.

🛠️ What is the “ART00004” Network Timeout error in ARC Raiders?

The ART00004 error specifically means “Retrieving data from backend services timed out.” While it is largely a server-side issue caused by holiday traffic or authentication lag, it can sometimes be triggered by a local network hang.

🔧 Can I fix these errors myself?

Because the core issue is server-side, most standard troubleshooting won’t work. However, some players have found success with these steps:

• Verify Game Files: On Steam or Epic, right-click the game, go to Properties > Installed Files, and select Verify Integrity.
• Flush DNS: Open Command Prompt and type ipconfig /flushdns.
• Change DNS Settings: Switch to Google DNS (Primary: 8.8.8.8, Secondary: 8.8.4.4) to bypass routing bottlenecks.
• Avoid Repeated Logins: Continually spamming the “Log In” button can put more strain on the servers and may lead to a temporary account flag.

⏰ When will the servers be back online?

Historically, outages of this scale are resolved within 1 to 3 hours, but the high volume of “Winterfest” traffic in 2025 has made this recovery slower. Engineers are currently working to stabilise the Epic Online Services login layer.

TOP STORIES TODAY