diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 50edfb4df0..5469ba0425 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Fixed issue where `Resource.load()` would hang forever on network errors (DNS failure, CORS block, offline), deadlocking the loader and all scene navigation. The promise now rejects with a `ResourceLoadingError` containing the resource path and a descriptive message
+- Fixed issue where `Gif.isLoaded()` always returned `true` because it checked `!!this.data` on an empty array, causing Gifs to be silently skipped by the loader and never parsed
 - Fixed issue where `scaleTo({…})` and `scaleBy({…})` actions would cause entities to keep scaling indefinitely after the action completed, due to a copy-paste bug that zeroed `angularVelocity` instead of `scaleFactor`
 - Fixed issue where `scaleTo({…})` and `scaleBy({…})` actions used a live reference to the entity's scale vector as the interpolation start point, causing the easing curve to be corrupted if the entity's scale changed during the action
 - Fixed issue where the first action in a sequence would not execute after calling `clearActions()` mid-execution. All action types now properly reset their initialization state when stopped, resolving issue #3468
diff --git a/src/engine/resources/gif.ts b/src/engine/resources/gif.ts
index 213fcfbdc2..99cfae751c 100644
--- a/src/engine/resources/gif.ts
+++ b/src/engine/resources/gif.ts
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ export class Gif implements Loadable<ImageSource[]> {
   }
 
   public isLoaded() {
-    return !!this.data;
+    return this.data.length > 0;
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/engine/resources/resource.ts b/src/engine/resources/resource.ts
index 3ae0c882cb..9ee50ff48d 100644
--- a/src/engine/resources/resource.ts
+++ b/src/engine/resources/resource.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,20 @@ export const ResourceEvents = {
   Error: 'error'
 };
 
+/**
+ * Error thrown when a resource fails to load due to network issues,
+ * CORS problems, or the resource being unreachable.
+ */
+export class ResourceLoadingError extends Error {
+  constructor(
+    public path: string,
+    message: string
+  ) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'ResourceLoadingError';
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * The {@apilink Resource} type allows games built in Excalibur to load generic resources.
  * For any type of remote resource it is recommended to use {@apilink Resource} for preloading.
@@ -73,7 +87,23 @@ export class Resource<T> implements Loadable<T> {
       request.responseType = this.responseType;
       request.addEventListener('loadstart', (e) => this.events.emit('loadstart', e as any));
       request.addEventListener('progress', (e) => this.events.emit('progress', e as any));
-      request.addEventListener('error', (e) => this.events.emit('error', e as any));
+      request.addEventListener('error', (e) => {
+        this.events.emit('error', e as any);
+        reject(
+          new ResourceLoadingError(
+            this.path,
+            `Failed to load resource at ${this.path}. This may be a network error, CORS issue, or the resource is unreachable.`
+          )
+        );
+      });
+      request.addEventListener('abort', (e) => {
+        this.events.emit('error', e as any);
+        reject(new ResourceLoadingError(this.path, `Request to load resource at ${this.path} was aborted.`));
+      });
+      request.addEventListener('timeout', (e) => {
+        this.events.emit('error', e as any);
+        reject(new ResourceLoadingError(this.path, `Request to load resource at ${this.path} timed out.`));
+      });
       request.addEventListener('load', (e) => this.events.emit('load', e as any));
       request.addEventListener('load', () => {
         // XHR on file:// success status is 0, such as with PhantomJS
diff --git a/src/spec/vitest/gif-spec.ts b/src/spec/vitest/gif-spec.ts
index c2f22449c9..f79da48b4e 100644
--- a/src/spec/vitest/gif-spec.ts
+++ b/src/spec/vitest/gif-spec.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,16 @@ describe('A Gif', () => {
     engine = null;
   });
 
+  it('should not be loaded by default (C6 regression)', () => {
+    expect(gif.isLoaded()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('should be loaded after load() completes (C6 regression)', async () => {
+    expect(gif.isLoaded()).toBe(false);
+    await gif.load();
+    expect(gif.isLoaded()).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it('should parse gif files correctly', () =>
     new Promise<void>((done) => {
       gif.load().then(() => {
diff --git a/src/spec/vitest/resource-spec.ts b/src/spec/vitest/resource-spec.ts
index 253124baa2..711de8095a 100644
--- a/src/spec/vitest/resource-spec.ts
+++ b/src/spec/vitest/resource-spec.ts
@@ -74,4 +74,22 @@ describe('A generic Resource', () => {
         });
       }));
   });
+
+  describe('on network error', () => {
+    it('should reject with ResourceLoadingError on XHR error', () =>
+      new Promise<void>((done) => {
+        // Use a path that will trigger a network error (not a 404, but an actual XHR error)
+        // Using an invalid protocol triggers the XHR 'error' event
+        const badResource = new ex.Resource('file:///nonexistent/path/resource.png', 'blob');
+        badResource.load().then(
+          () => fail('Expected rejection'),
+          (err) => {
+            expect(err).toBeInstanceOf(ex.ResourceLoadingError);
+            expect(err.path).toBe('file:///nonexistent/path/resource.png');
+            expect(err.message).toContain('Failed to load resource');
+            done();
+          }
+        );
+      }));
+  });
 });