Launch model Xbox One consoles with older firmware are reportedly failing to update

Certain launch model Xbox One consoles are failing to download firmware updates, a new report finds.

According to Digital Foundry on Eurogamer, the 2013 launch models of the console – the larger, VCR-like console seen in the image above, as opposed to the Xbox One S revision in 2016 – can’t download the latest firmware update if they haven’t been updated in a while.

The report stems from a small number of claims on games forum NeoGAF that players were struggling to download updates for older Xbox One consoles.

After further investigation, the Digital Foundry team found that Xbox One consoles containing outdated firmware may no longer be able to update.

The team attempted to update three Xbox One consoles – two running a dashboard from 2017, and one running a dashboard from 2018. All three failed to update to the latest firmware – not only by trying to download the update, but also by saving the update to a USB stick and trying to install it that way.

Xbox consoles can’t function online unless they’re running the latest firmware, which means these consoles currently can’t access Xbox Live, and also can’t run any digital purchases that need an online check.

The report also points out that if someone factory resets one of these consoles (to sell it, for example), they will effectively be ‘bricking’ it because it won’t be able to download the latest firmware as part of the initial setup.

Xbox One S consoles don’t appear to be affected, according to the report, and it also appears that launch model Xbox One consoles that have been regularly updated over the years can continue to update as normal. It only seems likely to risk launch model Xbox Consoles with older firmware for now.

Digital Foundry says it has contacted Microsoft about the issue and is “confident the problem will be fixed”, but notes that “the situation raises awkward questions about the future prospects of console hardware reliant on an internet connection to fully function”.