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Major Cloud Infrastructure Failure Impacts Global Services
A widespread Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage has disrupted hundreds of major websites and applications on Monday, October 20, 2025, affecting millions of users across the globe. The issues began at approximately 8:00 AM UK time (midnight Pacific time) and have impacted critical business tools, financial services, gaming platforms, and government websites.
AWS, the world’s largest cloud computing provider, confirmed the outage stems from problems at its data center facilities in Northern Virginia, specifically within the US-EAST-1 region. The company identified a DNS resolution issue affecting the DynamoDB API endpoint as the potential root cause.
“We have identified a potential root cause for error rates for the DynamoDB APIs in the US-EAST-1 Region,” an AWS spokesperson stated. “We are working on multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery.”
Extensive List of Affected Services
The outage has created a cascading effect across the internet, bringing down services that depend on AWS infrastructure. According to monitoring website Down Detector, the following platforms have experienced significant disruptions:
Business and productivity tools: Zoom, Slack, Asana, Jira, Smartsheet, Atlassian, Eventbrite, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Store have all reported service interruptions, potentially halting operations for businesses worldwide.
Financial services: Major UK banks including Lloyds Bank, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland are experiencing outages, with customers reporting difficulties accessing online banking and some payment card declines. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase also confirmed its services are unavailable due to the AWS disruption.
Gaming platforms: PlayStation Network, Epic Games Store, Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale, Brawl Stars, and Pokemon Go have all been affected, leaving millions of gamers unable to access their favorite titles.
Communication platforms: Snapchat, Signal, and WhatsApp users have reported connectivity issues, while AI assistant Perplexity has also gone offline.
UK government and public services: HMRC online services and Gov.UK websites are experiencing technical difficulties, potentially affecting taxpayers and citizens seeking government information.
Smart home and streaming services: Amazon Alexa, Ring doorbell cameras, Blink Security systems, Amazon Prime Video, and Amazon Music have all been impacted by the outage.
Other affected services: Dating app Hinge, language learning platform Duolingo, word game Wordle, fitness apps Peloton and Strava, genealogy service Ancestry, accounting software Xero, family tracking app Life360, and fitness tracker My Fitness Pal are among the dozens of other platforms experiencing disruptions.
Potential Impact on iGaming Industry
While no online gambling operators have officially confirmed disruptions at the time of publication, the iGaming industry could be significantly affected by this outage. Many leading online casinos, sportsbooks, and gaming platforms rely on AWS cloud infrastructure to power their operations.
AWS provides critical services for iGaming operators, including database management, computing power, payment processing systems, and player account management. Major US sports betting platforms and online casino operators have publicly acknowledged their dependence on AWS infrastructure for scaling operations and meeting regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
The outage affects not only the gaming platforms themselves but also essential business tools that iGaming companies depend on daily. With Zoom and Slack offline, internal communications and remote team collaboration have been disrupted. Financial services outages could impact payment processing and player transactions, while analytics tools like Asana and Jira affect project management and development workflows.
Customer support operations may also be hampered, as many iGaming operators use AWS-powered communication tools to respond to player inquiries and resolve issues in real time.
Global Scale of Disruption
The US-EAST-1 region where the outage originated is AWS’s oldest and largest data center hub. This region houses control planes for many global AWS services, including Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Amazon CloudFront, meaning disruptions in this location can affect services worldwide even if data is stored elsewhere.
Users who remain logged into affected applications may continue to use them, but those attempting to log in are unable to authenticate due to the AWS infrastructure problems. This has created particular challenges for services that rely on AWS for two-factor authentication.
Internet service providers including BT, Vodafone, EE, Virgin Media, and Sky have also been flagged on Down Detector, though it remains unclear whether these reports are directly linked to the AWS outage or represent separate issues.
AWS Response and Recovery Efforts
Amazon has acknowledged the severity of the situation and confirmed engineers are actively working to resolve the issue. The company stated it is “working on multiple parallel paths to accelerate recovery” and has been providing regular updates through its service status dashboard.
The issues affect Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2), two core services that allow thousands of companies to rent storage space and computing power to run their applications and websites.
AWS generated $108 billion in revenue in 2024, representing the majority of Amazon’s profits and cementing its position as the dominant force in cloud computing globally.
Industry Implications
This outage highlights the vulnerability of modern internet infrastructure and the risks of relying on centralized cloud services. When a major provider like AWS experiences technical difficulties, the effects ripple across countless industries and services that depend on this shared infrastructure.
For the iGaming sector, which operates in a highly regulated environment with strict uptime requirements and compliance obligations, any service disruption can have serious operational and financial consequences. Operators must maintain continuous service availability to meet licensing requirements and protect player funds.
This is a developing story. We will continue to update this article as more information becomes available regarding the AWS outage and any confirmed impacts on iGaming operators.
Source: Multiple sources including BBC, The Independent, City AM, and AWS Service Health Dashboard
