Bought Cold War. When Launched it won't go past the "Press A to Start" Screen.

Hello there @BenHamilton6, I hope everything is going well!
Thank you for reaching Microsoft Xbox Forum support. I want you not to worry about the situation because I am here to help you out! I believe your console might need either a network reset or just a system refresh. I would like you to go through the following steps to clear the Mac address and then perform a quick power cycle on your console:

Settings > Network Settings > Advanced Settings > Alternate Mac Address > Clear it and the console should restart. It would definitely help if you could restart the internet router while the console is restarting.

After going through the troubleshooting steps mentioned, I invite you to perform a quick power cycle by turning off the console and then unplugging all the cables. After 2 to 3 minutes, re-plug them back again, then restart your console.

Another thing you should check is your NAT type. I would like you to check your NAT type if open because that could sometimes interfere. to check for the NAT type you can follow the steps below:

Settings > Network Settings > NAT type => It should be open.

If the NAT type is not open, you will need to open some ports with your internet provider. These ports must be open for Xbox Live to work: Port 88 (UDP) Port 3074 (UDP and TCP) Port 53 (UDP and TCP) Port 80 (TCP) Port 500 (UDP) Port 3544 (UDP) Port 4500 (UDP).

In case the issue still persists after the previous steps have been performed here is the official link to all the network troubleshooting steps that can help sort this out for you.

The link: Troubleshoot your Xbox One network connection | Xbox Support

In case the issue still persists, the next step would be to perform a reset on the console. To do so you will need to follow the steps below to perform a reset on the Xbox :

Settings > System > Console Info > Reset This Xbox > Reset and Keep my Games and Apps.

Note =>The "Reset and Keep my Games and Apps" option will not cause losing your games, but please be aware that you need to be completely aware of the email address as well as the password of your account before going for it because it will require you to sign in to the account.I wish you a lovely day, and I hope this helps you out! All the best!

Kind Regards

Stay safe, and happy gaming!

Gears of War 4 was installed via the Xbox app. So far, it's the only game that's having issues starting, but I'm going to try out other games through the Xbox app to see if any of them are similarly afflicted. (Update: Some are, see below.)

So far I've found that it starts up normally after a reboot, including up to a few hours after a reboot, but it will hang when launched the following day. It seems like it's hanging while trying to contact the server for the MOTD - after pressing a button to start, it never gets to the splash screen advertising Gears of War 5.

I'm going to try Gears of War 5 and other games to see if any other game is similarly afflicted. Then I'll try the troubleshooting steps you listed.

Update: I waited a day after reboot and tried some games.

Gears of War 4 launched but got stuck in the same place.

The Gunk launched and played correctly without issues.

When launching Gears of War 5 for the first time, the launcher needed to download gigabytes of additional data, then threw up an error message saying, "Something went wrong launching your game. Error code: (0x8007042b)", but it did successfully launch the game so I'm not sure what the error was. I had thought the Gears of War 5 had frozen as the initial splash screen with the skull and spinning gear went on for a couple minutes, but it eventually load to the "Press Enter/A to Play" screen. But then it seemed to hang, as after pressing a button I got a spinning icon in the corner and nothing else. So it seems like Gears of War 5 is similarly afflicted. Re-launching it did not show an error message, but it hung in the same place after pressing a button to play.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy showed the launcher screen saying it was launching the game, then displayed the message, "Something went wrong launching your game. Error code: (0x80070102)" and closed out without launching the game. It won't launch at all.

Doom Eternal had the same issue as Guardians of the Galaxy: "Something went wrong launching your game. Error code: (0x80070102)"

Forza Horizon 4 launched and started up correctly.

Scarlet Nexus launched and started up correctly.

Hello there @Princessbus2100, I hope everything is going well!

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Xbox Forum support. I am sorry to know about the game situation, but I want you not to worry about it because I am here to help you out! I believe your console might need either a network reset or just a system refresh. I
would like you to go through the following steps to clear the Mac address and then perform a quick power cycle on your console:

Settings > Network Settings > Advanced Settings > Alternate Mac Address > Clear it and the console should restart. It would definitely help if you could restart the internet router while the console is restarting.

After going through the troubleshooting steps mentioned, I invite you to perform a quick power cycle by turning off the console and then unplugging all the cables. After 2 to 3 minutes, re-plug them back again, then restart your console.

Another thing you should check is your NAT type. I would like you to check your NAT type if open because that could sometimes interfere. to check for the NAT type you can follow the steps below:

Settings > Network Settings > NAT type => It should be open.

If the NAT type is not open, you will need to open some ports with your internet provider. These ports must be open for Xbox Live to work: Port 88 (UDP) Port 3074 (UDP and TCP) Port 53 (UDP and TCP) Port 80 (TCP) Port 500 (UDP) Port 3544 (UDP) Port 4500
(UDP).

In case the issue still persists after the previous steps have been performed here is the official link to all the network troubleshooting steps that can help sort this out for you.

The link: Troubleshoot your Xbox One network connection | Xbox Support

In case the issue still persists, the next step would be to perform a reset on the console. To do so you will need to follow the steps below to perform a reset on the Xbox :

Settings > System > Console Info > Reset This Xbox > Reset and Keep my Games and Apps.

Note =>The "Reset and Keep my Games and Apps" option will not cause losing your games, but please be aware that you need to be completely aware of the email address as well as the password of your account before going for it because it will require you
to sign in to the account.

I wish you a lovely day, and I hope this helps you out! All the best!

Kind Regards

Stay safe, and happy gaming!

Feel free to give us your feedback by voting below if the reply was helpful!

Hi, I hope you're doing great out there despite the issue that you're experiencing. I am an Independent advisor and I am here to help you in regards to your concern.

First, make sure that the account that owns the game is set as Home Xbox on the console that you're using. For the instructions, you can check this link: https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/hardware-ne...

Once confirmed that it is set as Home Xbox please highlight the game Cold War In your games list, press the Menu button on your controller, and then select Manage game & add-ons, from there please click the game icon and click "Install All". It will install all the packs that we have missed in that way we can finally play the game without asking to re-purchase it.

Hi, I hope you're doing great out there. I am an Independent advisor and I am here to help you in regard to your concern.

Seems like you have performed all the necessary steps, Jacob. I would like to clarify, will you be playing the game online multiplayer? If yes, make sure that you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription and if not, you can simply set your console offline to play the game.

Settings > General > Network Settings > Go offline.