AWS Outage Disrupts Snapchat, Fortnite, and Major Apps

A major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage crippled thousands of online services and applications globally. The disruption began on the morning of October 20, 2025, affecting users across multiple continents. Popular platforms like Snapchat, Robinhood, and Fortnite experienced widespread access issues.

According to Reuters, the problem originated in the US-EAST-1 region, a critical hub for AWS infrastructure. The outage underscores the immense reliance of the modern internet on a handful of cloud service providers. It caused significant disruptions to both consumer apps and business operations.

Root Cause Traced to Critical API Failure

The service disruption was linked to elevated error rates with the DynamoDB API. This is a core database service provided by AWS. Issues with DNS resolution at this endpoint prevented applications from communicating properly.

This single point of failure had a cascading effect. Services like Roblox and Canva, which depend on this AWS infrastructure, began failing. The AWS service health dashboard confirmed the company was investigating the root cause and working on mitigation.

Global Impact and Signs of Recovery

The outage had a tangible impact on gamers, investors, and remote workers. Trading on Robinhood was affected, while collaborative work on Canva was interrupted. Major gaming titles like PUBG and Fortnite became unplayable for many users.

AWS later posted an update indicating a path to recovery. The company stated that most requests were beginning to succeed again. It continued to work through a backlog of queued operations to restore full service.

The widespread AWS outage highlights the fragile nature of our interconnected digital ecosystem. Such events demonstrate how a single technical fault can ripple across the global internet, disrupting work and leisure for millions.

Info at your fingertips

Which apps were affected by the AWS outage?

Major platforms like Snapchat, Robinhood, Canva, PUBG, Roblox, and Fortnite were all impacted. These services rely on AWS cloud infrastructure to function for their users.

What was the cause of the AWS disruption?

The outage was linked to significant error rates involving DNS resolution for the DynamoDB API. This occurred in AWS’s critical US-EAST-1 data center region.

When did the AWS outage start?

The service disruption began escalating around 12 pm IST on October 20, 2025. The issues persisted for several hours before recovery efforts showed progress.

How did the outage affect users?

Users experienced errors, failed logins, and inability to use core features on affected apps. The disruption impacted social media, gaming, and financial trading platforms.

Is the AWS outage completely resolved?

AWS confirmed that most requests were succeeding again. The company was working to clear a backlog of operations to return services to full normalcy.