Microsoft banned Gears of War leakers from Xbox Live, but hasn't disabled their consoles
Microsoft has found out who leaked footage of the Gears of War Xbox One remaster and banned them from Xbox Live.
Yesterday, a purported leak of the upcoming Gears of War remaster was making the rounds online. The video was very short, showing only a few seconds of footage.
But, it was captured from the Xbox One's game DVR, which lead credence to the rumour that Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is a real thing.
Today, it was revealed that Microsoft has tracked down the persons responsible and banned them from Xbox Live
VMC, the third-party QA contractor that hired said leakers, sent an email to all of its testers warning them not to do the same, remind them of the NDAs they signed and, curiously, say that Microsoft has ability to make their Xbox One consoles "entirely unusable," should they breach their contracts.
The full email was sent to Polygon and in it, there was a very interesting line about Microsoft being able to essentially brick consoles remotely.
"This being said, as per that agreement with the testers in fault, Microsoft also permanently disabled their Xbox LIVE accounts (as well as other suspected accounts present on their Xbox One kits) and temporarily blocked all of their Xbox One privileges - meaning that for a period of time which Microsoft decides on depending on the severity of the offense, their Xbox One is entirely unusable," reads the email.
As you may have guessed, everyone was furious. Following that, Microsoft told Polygon in a statement that not all the information in the email is accurate. "To be clear, if a console is suspended from Xbox Live for a violation of the Terms of Use, it can still be used offline," read the statement.
"Microsoft enforcement action does not result in a console becoming unusable. Suspensions for both consoles and accounts are determined by looking at a number of factors. To avoid enforcement action including suspension from the service, users should follow the Xbox Live Terms of Use and Code of Conduct."
We're expecting Microsoft to announce the game officially at E3 in June.