Xbox Consoles Are Being Struck By The Black Screen Of Death
The year is 2007, you boot up your Xbox 360 for a game of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but instead of merrily making your way around Cyrodiil, you're stuck by the dreaded Red Ring of Death. Some 14 years later, the Red Ring is a thing of the past, but now, Xbox One consoles are being "bricked" by the Black Screen of Death.
As we move forward into the next-gen console wars, Microsoft is trying to play catch up to the PlayStation 5's dominance of the market with the Xbox Series X/S. Microsoft has clearly moved its efforts into the next era of Xbox, but that doesn't mean it should ignore something as disastrous as the Black Screen of Death?
What is the Black Screen of Death?
With the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death being a more advanced version of the Blue Screen of Death that plagued Windows computers, the Black Screen of Death is effectively the final boss of Microsoft hardware horrors. Although we've previously heard of the Black Screen of Death on Windows 95, its latest revival could be disastrous for Xbox One owners.
At the time of writing, it appears the Black Screen of Death is affecting Xbox One consoles if you're part of the Xbox Insider programme. The opt-in scheme allows gamers to test upcoming features before they're rolled out to the masses, however, it seems one of the updates in a recent patch has triggered the Black Screen of Death.
A quick search of social media includes a plethora of players claiming they've been struck down by the Black Screen of Death. One disgruntled Xbox One owner admitted defeat and wrote, "After six years it's finally happened. My Xbox one has died. It contracted the black screen of death this evening and after many attempts to save it. Even taking it apart. It refused to completely boot up. Sometimes that xbox was my only friend. Now it's gone."
Another added, "This morning I turned on my Xbox One (the console we use to play Rock Band 4) and discovered that the latest system update caused the Black Screen of Death. My brother let me try using his Xbox One...and it has the same problem. Just f*****g wonderful...."
How can you fix the Black Screen of Death?
You might remember that the Red Ring of Death was eventually fixed, but only after Microsoft sunk a cool $1 billion into the issue. Microsoft has already got the jump on the Black Screen of Death and claims it's fixed. In the latest patch notes, Microsoft says, "Fixed an issue where some users were seeing a black/blank screen after installing an update". But is this really the case?
It seems odd that the tech giant would simply gloss over a seemingly console-breaking issue in a simple sentence buried in some patch notes. Although Microsoft claimed to have fixed it on August 20, it's clear this isn't the case. A quick search for "Black Screen of Death" on Twitter turns up a tonne of results after that date.
Microsoft has suggested doing a factory reset to fix your Xbox One, but that sounds like a whole load of faff. We know the Xbox One isn't exactly cutting edge, but it's also not an obsolete bit of kit.
Whether the Black Screen of Death will be as widespread of the Red Ring of Death remains to be seen, but by the sounds of it, there could be a lot of Xbox Ones heading to that Xbox graveyard in the sky if Microsoft doesn't do something soon.
