The long-awaited fifth season of the hit web series Stranger Things finally premiered on Netflix; only for the platform to crash within minutes, leaving thousands of viewers frustrated.
According to fans, the outage began shortly after the first four episodes of Season 5 were released on Wednesday.
The issue primarily affected those streaming on TV devices, with many taking to social media to express their anger.
Outage-tracking site DownDetector reported that nearly 14,000 users in the United States lodged complaints about the disruption.
In India, too, numerous users reported being unable to access the service, with around 200 peak-time outage reports filed.
In an email to Reuters, Netflix acknowledged the issue, saying, “Some members experienced temporary difficulties while streaming on TV devices, but service was restored for all accounts within five minutes.”
Such breakdowns are not new for Netflix. The platform previously went down during the 2024 Mike Tyson–Jake Paul boxing match and the live reunion of the reality show Love Is Blind.
A similar outage occurred in 2022 during the release of the final two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4.
After a three-year gap, Stranger Things returns with its fifth season, continuing its globally acclaimed storyline set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s.
This season features the main cast; including Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard, along with a narrative time jump essential to the plot.
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