Microsoft Threatens Console Bans for Gears Pirates

[Karloff]

Microsoft Threatens Console Bans for Gears Pirates

Gears of War: Judgment gets pirated, a month before its scheduled release.

We've a month yet to go before the launch of the next installment in the Gears of War franchise [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120555-Gears-of-War-Franchise-Reaches-New-Sales-Milestone], but pirates already have copies up on torrent sites. This doesn't please Microsoft, you'll be unsurprised to hear, and it has already threatened console bans for anyone who dares play a stolen copy.

"We are aware of isolated cases in which Gears of War: Judgment content has been propped on the web and are working closely with our security teams and law enforcement to address the situation immediately," said Microsoft in an official statement, adding that "playing pirated copies of games, such as Gears of War: Judgment, is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Use and will result in enforcement action, such as account and console bans."

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Halo 4 had its share of piracy problems, and banning hundreds of thousands of accounts at a time [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.391131-Halo-4-Pirates-Face-Perma-Ban] on piracy charges.

The official release of Gears of War: Judgment is March 22nd, for the Xbox 360

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-19-microsoft-warns-of-console-bans-and-vigorous-action-against-illegal-activity-after-gears-of-war-judgement-leaks-a-month-before-release]

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[Baresark]

This is all very funny. You see, they are making a big deal out of this, but it happens all the time. All the, "PC is full of pirates", nonsense that was espoused not too long ago looks tame in comparison to this. I mean, you usually can't even find a PC game prior to release, and then if you do, it tends to not be unlockable before actual release day. Consoles on the other hand, it's not uncommon to find them multiple weeks before release. Especially 360 games. But it happans often with PS3 titles as well. I just find it amazingly ironic that consoles are so badly afflicted by piracy when that was, for a long time, the main complaint from big publishers and Microsoft's point precisely for being against PC gaming.

I'm not condoning piracy, I'm just saying the way it is. And in that, I don't have any complaints about their methodology for trying to deal with it. I mean, it won't really work; no one is using a 360 that they use for official online XBL gaming to play downloaded games... well no one with two brain cells to rub together.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Yeah, man. Ban the consoles a couple of days before Sony announces their next gen console. That will make people buy your next console, for sure.

Don't get me wrong. They have every right to do it. But sometimes exercising your rights isn't in your best interest.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Is it just me, or do "console bans" irk anyone else?

Account bans are perfectly fine, given the circumstances, but a console is hardware; it's not a game that they license out or a service you subscribe to, it's a real-life physical object that you paid for & own.

I'm pretty much exclusively PC these days, so it's not like it's even a concern for me, but it strikes me as unethical to say the least

 

[fabiank22]

What kind of signal would that send? Sony didn't react to PSP-hacks swiftly and harshly enough, and it ended up costing them an insane amount of money. Also how would not exercising your rights appear toward the GoW-Team? Just ask crytek how harsh it can be to see people pirate all your stuff

 

[Andy Shandy]

Wait, the new Gears Of War is coming out in a month?

Is it just me or has that game flown completely under the radar?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Just ask crytek how harsh it can be to see people pirate all your stuff

I have a better idea. Ask Crytek how many copies of Crysis 1 they sold on PC alone, and how many copies of Crysis 2 they sold on all systems combined.

People who want to pirate GoW will do it anyway and those who want to buy it will still end up buying it. It changes nothing.

I have nothing against banning the accounts of those pirates. But I can't get behind banning hardware.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Wait, the new Gears Of War is coming out in a month?

Is it just me or has that game flown completely under the radar?

Gears of War 3 flew under my radar and that was a numerical sequel to a game I played through and beat. Judgement is...what, supposed to be Gears of Reach? I'm actually really curious to see what the people who played Judgement thought of it. I've only played the first two Gears titles and just don't really care for the franchise but I'm still curious about those first impressions.

Is it just me, or do "console bans" irk anyone else?

Right here. The thought of Microsoft being able to disable my console as a whole as opposed to my account is really disquieting to me. I can't log on to Xbox Live much anyway so I know I'm on the 'watch this asshole' list for those few times I am able to log on for long enough to update my console.

 

[FFP2]

Damn, that was fast.

Anyone dumb enough to play a game online a month before it's even released deserves it purely for their stupidity.

 

[votemarvel]

I have nothing against banning the accounts of those pirates. But I can't get behind banning hardware.

The problem with that is, banning an account doesn't disable the modifications in the console.

Just ban the account and the pirate is back online in minutes, playing his burnt game, with a new account.

When an Xbox 360 is banned it loses its ability to connect to LIVE. In every other way it will continue to function as normal, you'll even be able to continue to play burnt games.

 

[redisforever]

Wait, the new Gears Of War is coming out in a month?

Is it just me or has that game flown completely under the radar?

Yeah, so it would seem. This is the first time I've heard of a new Gears of War game. Not sure this is the kind of publicity Epic would want for their game...

 

[EvilChameleon]

Don't worry Microsoft, you won't have to ban that many people, as not that many people give a shit about this latest version of the game.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Wait, the new Gears Of War is coming out in a month?

Is it just me or has that game flown completely under the radar?

I had no idea their was a new GoW.

OT: Who would be dumb enough to use Live on an Xbox with pirated games on it?

 

[votemarvel]

OT: Who would be dumb enough to use Live on an Xbox with pirated games on it?

Given some of the posts on the "why was I banned" board of the xbox.com forum, quite a few people.

It seems as if they don't want to pay for their games but still have the fun of playing online with their friends.

 

[Jamash]

Is it just me, or do "console bans" irk anyone else?

Account bans are perfectly fine, given the circumstances, but a console is hardware; it's not a game that they license out or a service you subscribe to, it's a real-life physical object that you paid for & own.

I'm pretty much exclusively PC these days, so it's not like it's even a concern for me, but it strikes me as unethical to say the least

The ability to connect to XBox Live is a service you subscribe to. Even for the free Silver accounts you have to agree to the TOS.

Illegitimately modifying your console to play pirated games is a violation of the TOS and it's perfectly acceptable that Microsoft would ban your modified console from accessing their network.

Banned consoles can still play games, they just can't connect to XBox live and interact with other consoles or use any of the features of Xbox Live, which is a good thing considering the instability a modified console could have on the network, or the illegitimate behaviour such a console could allow in multiplayer games and leaderbords.

 

[Groenteman]

I have never owned a console so I might be wrong about this, but doesnt a 'console ban' mean that the whole console itself wont be usable for anything online anymore?

If thats so then this is an incredably dumb and short-sighted way to deal with this (suprise surpise). Just how many people whos console they ban are they expecting to buy a new console AND a new game? I dont expect very many, especialy with the new consoles ones comming up and with the 360 being horrendously obsolete.

 

[aba1]

Is it just me, or do "console bans" irk anyone else?

Account bans are perfectly fine, given the circumstances, but a console is hardware; it's not a game that they license out or a service you subscribe to, it's a real-life physical object that you paid for & own.

I'm pretty much exclusively PC these days, so it's not like it's even a concern for me, but it strikes me as unethical to say the least

It isnt a actual console ban as that would be impossible what they are doing is blocking consoles from access to xbox live and xbox live is a service. Still really stupid but at least it isn't AS ridiculous.

 

[Earthmonger]

You people complaining about console bans... would you prefer jail? Microsoft is being lenient on pirates (because it would cost them too much to exact a full decree).