Certain custom Xbox settings temporarily deactivated by Microsoft

Following an overwhelming surge in demand for online services, Microsoft has made the decision to temporarily deactivate the ability to upload custom gamerpics, club pics, and club backgrounds on all Xbox One consoles.

The change was announced in a notification on the official Xbox Support website. You can read the statement in full below.

“As people look to gaming for social connection, we’re seeing record numbers across Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live, and Mixer. To streamline moderation and ensure the best experience for our community, we’re making small adjustments. We’ve temporarily turned off the ability to upload custom gamerpics, club pics, and club backgrounds.”

While it wasn’t mentioned just when the feature would be turned back on, we can assume that it won’t be too long. Custom gamerpics, club pics, and club backgrounds also generally tend to not have much of an impact on your gaming experience, so you should be fine without the ability to change them for a little while.

The support website also warns users that the wait times for contacting support are “currently longer than usual.” Refund processing is also delayed, meaning users in the process of receiving a refund may see it taking 72 hours or longer to process.

If you’re having an Xbox related issue, we heartily recommend exhausting the FAQ and internet forums before trying to contact Xbox Support directly, in order to try and ease up some of the pressure on the system.

It’s not just Xbox services that are seeing a higher rate of demand, though. Microsoft recently revealed that Azure is being overwhelmed by a 775% surge in demand in lockdown regions, along with a “significant spike” in Teams usage.