Ah, the time of Christmas. A time of cheer, a time of wonder, a time of frantic holiday gaming and now apparently also a time of fervent hacking to remove the ability to game. With memories of Lizard Squad last year it is understandable to be worried in the run up to the holiday season, and it would seem today that worry is a necessary one to hold.

Key Xbox Live services have been rendered unusable today, and a hacking group known only as ‘Phantom Squad’ has claimed responsibility.

‘Xbox Live #Offline’ claims the official twitter of the Phantom Squad.

The group has already made attacks on Xbox, as well as other major websites such as Reddit and the Live Streamer Keemstar. Where this online hacking group will go next is anyone’s guess, but we can hope that Xbox’s downtime does not last for too long.

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