Netflix faced a major outage in the United States on Thursday, just as Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 went live. Within minutes of the premiere, thousands of users said the app either froze, stopped loading titles, or crashed during playback. The outage also led to short-lived glitches for some viewers in India during the same window. Also Read: Instagram Adds Limited-Time Stranger Things Fonts Ahead Of Season Finale
Outage Reports Spike During Premiere Window
Data from Downdetector showed over 15,000 outage reports in the US. Most users flagged streaming failures, while others ran into server-connection problems and login errors. The reports surged around 6:30 AM IST on November 27, which lined up with the global premiere timing of the new Stranger Things episodes. 
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A few hundred users in India also took to social media during the same period to flag issues. Many reported long loading times, frozen streams, or error messages when trying to start the latest Stranger Things episodes. Also Read: Jio vs Airtel vs Vi: Want To Watch Upcoming Stranger Things 5 For Free? Check These Best Netflix-Bundled Plans
Streaming, Server, and Login Issues
According to Downdetector’s breakdown, 56% of affected users reported video streaming problems and 35% said they faced server-related errors. About 10% were unable to log into their accounts altogether. Netflix had not issued a statement on the cause of the outage at the time of writing.
Screenshots shared online showed frozen frames and endless loading animations. Several posts on X (formerly Twitter) linked the disruption directly to the release of Stranger Things Season 5 Volume 1 – one of Netflix’s most anticipated drops of the year.
Users React Across Social Media
Fans quickly expressed frustration on X, with many posting humorous reactions. “Stayed up till 1 am and Netflix goes down instantly,” one user wrote. “Waited all day for Stranger Things and now Netflix is down,” another complained.
Others shared memes about the outage, with one post saying, “Stranger Things has been Vecna’d,” while another joked, “That’s how a great series premieres. With the servers falling.”
Netflix has seen similar strain during major releases before. In July 2022, the platform briefly went down when the final episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 were released.
