Microsoft has announced that it will be extending its three year warranties for the Xbox 360. The warranty already covers the Red Ring of Death (RRoD) errors that have plagued the console since its launch and will now cover a new ‘E74’ error experienced by some users.

The extended warranties have already cost Microsoft an estimated $1 billion in repair bill so far and further reinforces that Microsoft are still struggling with the Xbox 360’s hardware. A statement released by Microsoft states that; “While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays “E74” on their screen. After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three flashing red lights error on the console.”

Anyone who experiences the E74 error will now be able to get their console repaired for free, although it will still take around two weeks and users who have already paid for the E74 error repair will receive a full refund within the next 4 to 12 weeks.