Xbox 360 technical problems

The Xbox 360 video game console was subject to a number of technical problems and failures, some as a result of design flaws. Some issues could be identified by a pattern of red lights on the front face of the console; these colloquially became known as the "Red Ring of Death" or the "RRoD".^[1][2] There were also other issues, such as discs becoming scratched in the drive and "bricking" of consoles due to dashboard updates.

There were many conflicting estimates of the console's unusually high failure rate.^[3][4][5] The warranty provider SquareTrade estimated it at 23.7% in 2009,^[6] while a Game Informer survey reported 54.2%.^[7] Among the consoles owned by employees of Joystiq, which saw heavy use for games journalism purposes, the failure rate had reached 90% by the end of 2007.^[8] The crisis was ultimately abated from 2009 by design revisions to the later-produced Xbox models; the S model in particular was far more resilient. By 2012 the failure rate for the Xbox 360 family was comparable to the PS3 failure rate.^[9]

The issues proved extremely damaging for Microsoft. Repairs and shipping of replacement hardware cost the company $1.15bn. The issues triggered multiple lawsuits,^[10] cost the Xbox ground in the console wars and threatened the long term viability of the Xbox brand.^[11]