The release of the first volume of episodes for Stranger Things Season 5 sparked such interest that it briefly crashed Netflix.
Users report the streamer went offline for a few minutes at 5pm PT on Wednesday, November 26, as the first four episodes went live. Some have experienced bugs on Netflix throughout the evening.
The error message shown to users included a background image of a terrible cake baked on Netflix’s reality cooking competition show Nailed It!, which feels appropriate. Social media was awash with the error message as fans desperately tried to jump into Stranger Things Season 5.
Netflix confirmed the outage in a statement issued to Variety: “Some members briefly experienced an issue streaming on TV devices, but service recovered for all accounts within five minutes.”
Stranger Things has done this to Netflix before, of course, back in July 2022 when the final two episodes of Season 4 went live. The live-streamed Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight also caused problems in November 2024.
Here’s the official blurb on Stranger Things Season 5:
The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.
Stranger Things Season 5 debuts on Netflix in three parts, with the first four episodes arriving for the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26. The next three episodes premiere on Christmas, and the series finale will debut on the streamer and in over 350 theaters nationwide on New Year’s Eve.
Stranger Things Season 5 release dates:
- VOL 1 – November 26, 5pm PT
- VOL 2 – Christmas, 5pm PT
- THE FINALE – New Year’s Eve, 5pm PT
Check out IGN’s Stranger Things: Season 5, Vol. 1 spoiler review to find out what we think of the first batch of episodes.
If you’re hunting for the best offers this week, we’re actively rounding up the strongest Black Friday deals on video games, tech, and more. You can find all our top picks and price drops in our full Black Friday hub, or check out our relevant pages for PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox deals.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
