Gaming Services error 0x80073D26 – easy fix

The Gaming Services error in the Microsoft Store is a common problem. When you click See Details, you get the message Something Unexpected Happened (Code: 0x80073D26).

You can’t play games without Gaming Services, so I understand you stumbled upon this article.

In this post, I have written out the best solutions for error 0x80073D26. In the right order from most likely fix to less likely fix (but still possible!). The solutions are generally risk-free, but be extra careful if I specifically mention that.

Solution 1: Reinstall Gaming Services to fix 0x80073D26

The safest solution for error 0x80073D26 is to reinstall the Gaming Services. For this we use Powershell and we have to execute 2 commands. Don’t worry, you just need to follow my steps:

1. Launch Powershell as an administrator. The easiest way is to right-click the Windows-logo at the left bottom and click Windows PowerShell (Admin)
   
   
2. At the place of the blinking cursor, enter “get-appxpackage Microsoft.GamingServices | remove-AppxPackage -allusers”. You may use CTRL-C to copy this line, and paste it into the Powershell window with CTRL-V. Sometimes, CTRL-V doesn’t work, but a right-click does its job right away.
   Hit Enter to execute the command.
   
   
3. In the same Powershell window, enter “start ms-windows-store://pdp/?productid=9MWPM2CQNLHN”. This command opens the Gaming Services page in the Microsoft Store
   
   
4. Install the app on that page, including accepting the UAC prompt when shown.
   
   
5. Try launching the game again. Re-install the game if necessary.

Update: some users have reported they needed to reboot the computer to make this fix work.

Solution 2: Delete the Gaming Services registry keys to fix 0x80073D26

Advanced users fix error 0x80073D26 by deleting the registry keys of Gaming Services. This is a solid solution but requires caution. Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For additional protection, you may want to back up your registry:

1. Open Registry Editor as an administrator. The easiest way is to search for Registry in your Windows Start Menu, right-click the result Registry Editor and click Run as Administrator
   
2. Delete the following registry keys:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\GamingServices
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\GamingServicesNet
   
   To delete the Gaming Services key, first navigate to the GamingServices key. Check that the full path is shown in the top bar. Then right-click the key (GamingServices), and click Delete
   Do the same for the GamingServicesNet registry key. Again, make sure the full path is shown in the top bar. Only then right click GamingServicesNet in the left navigation bar and click Delete
   
3. Reboot your computer
4. Install Gaming Services from the Microsoft Store, as you would normally. Error 0x80073D26 should not reoccur.

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