A massive Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage on October 20, 2025, disrupted dozens of major platforms including Roblox, Fortnite, Snapchat, Slack, and even Amazon’s own Alexa. The outage began around 3:11 AM ET in AWS’s critical US-EAST-1 region (Northern Virginia), causing $75 million in losses per hour before being resolved by evening.
Table of Contents
Services Affected by AWS Outage
| Category | Affected Services |
|---|---|
| Gaming | Fortnite, Roblox, Pokémon GO, Clash Royale, Clash of Clans, Dead by Daylight |
| Social/Chat | Snapchat, Signal, Slack, Reddit |
| Finance | Venmo, Robinhood, Coinbase, Square |
| Productivity | Canva, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, Xero |
| Amazon Services | Alexa, Ring, Prime Video, Amazon Music |
| Other Apps | Lyft, McDonald’s app, Duolingo, Wordle, Starbucks, Tinder, MyFitnessPal |
| Banking (UK) | Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, HMRC |
DNS Resolution Issue Triggers Global Chaos
AWS identified the root cause as DNS resolution issues for the regional DynamoDB API endpoint. DynamoDB is a critical database service storing user profiles, game scores, and app data for countless AWS clients. When this digital filing cabinet crashed, everything dependent on it stopped working.
The outage demonstrated how centralized cloud infrastructure creates catastrophic single points of failure. According to Tenscope analysis, Amazon lost $72.8 million per hour, with Snapchat losing $612K hourly, Zoom $533K, Roblox $411K, and Fortnite $400K.
Timeline of the Outage
- 3:11 AM ET: AWS reports increased error rates in US-EAST-1 region
- 5:01 AM ET: DNS resolution issue with DynamoDB identified
- 12:08 PM ET: Underlying DNS issue fully mitigated
- 6:53 PM ET: AWS announces complete resolution of all services
Real-World Impact Beyond Gaming
While gamers couldn’t access Fortnite or Roblox, the consequences extended far beyond entertainment. UK tax authority HMRC, major banks including Lloyds and Halifax, and French telecoms SFR and Free all experienced disruptions. Smart home devices became unresponsive, payment systems froze, and productivity tools crashed during business hours.
Patrick Burgess, cybersecurity expert at BCS, noted: “The world now runs on the cloud… when there’s an issue like this, it can be really impactful across a broad spectrum of online services.”
AWS Dominance Creates Vulnerability
As of mid-2025, AWS held 30% of the worldwide cloud infrastructure market, making it the internet’s backbone. When AWS struggles, half the digital world follows. This marks another major disruption after similar outages in 2023 and a massive 2021 incident affecting airlines, dealerships, and streaming services.
For updates on cloud infrastructure and tech outages, follow our technology coverage.
FAQs
What caused the AWS outage on October 20, 2025?
DNS resolution issues with DynamoDB API endpoints in the US-EAST-1 region caused the widespread disruption.
How much money was lost during the AWS outage?
Approximately $75 million per hour, with Amazon itself losing over $72 million hourly.
