Xbox has issued a response to multiple reports that Xbox Insider program were experiencing factory resets. The Xbox Insider program is a beta testing program that lets Xbox s playtests, get early access to new features and games, and provide that helps Microsoft improve the Xbox gaming experience on consoles, PC, mobile, and beyond.

A number of Xbox Insider took to social media to report that the latest update caused their consoles to complete a factory reset. An Xbox Insiders staff member who goes by XB1R_Hypnos on Reddit has issued an official response, stating that the bug was caused by a service issue, and that a fix is already being rolled out. The response in full is below:

Hey all, thanks so much for all the reports! There was a service issue that impacted both system updates as well as game and app updates, and we have a fix rolling out now. We have early reports of success (my console updated now), so if you haven't tried updating again recently, please do so. Also, we had one person report that if you're trying to set up your console via the mobile app, you may need to try manually instead.

What Happened With The Latest Xbox Insider Update?

A Mandatory Update Caused Xbox Consoles To Reset To Factory Default Settings

The issue popped up from what was supposed to be a routine update, and seems to be specifically affecting the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead tiers of the program. Many reports, like this one from Xenokaiii on Reddit, state that their console completed a factory reset after ing update 2504.250227-2200. The update is removing Xbox owners' profiles from their consoles and resetting the system to the factory defaults.

Although the reset doesn't remove owned games or delete the profile, players are still frustrated at the bug, with Redditor Xenokaiii calling it the "biggest bug I've ever seen release in all my years of being in the preview program!" Other Xbox Insider are reporting similar issues, with several consoles reportedly stuck in an update loop as the update results in an error and tries again, repeatedly. Many are requesting that Xbox take down the update until they resolve the issue.

It's Taken A While For Xbox To Respond To The Worrying Reports

This Is The Very Reason Why The Insider Program Exists

The response of the Xbox team has taken longer than it should, considering that the Xbox Insider program is specifically designed to squash these kinds of issues before they're rolled out to everyone. The update was pushed out at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5 and made mandatory at 3 a.m. PT this morning, according to the Xbox website. That means it's taken the team nearly a day to take any steps toward resolving the issue, at least publicly.

The amount of time it took for the developers to respond is concerning. Redditor Martin__D states that they understand bugs are expected as part of the program but "it's the complete lack of action on the development team when a bad update goes live on a test branch and it stays live for 18+ hours." Xbox Insider will have to wait a bit longer to regain control over their consoles again, but at least now we know there's a fix on the way.

Source: Xenokaiii/Reddit, XB1R_Hypnos/Reddit, Martin__D/Reddit, Xbox