Microsoft has announced that it has banned nearly 600,000 people from its Xbox Live service for modifying their consoles to play pirated games. Microsoft stated that modifying an Xbox 360 console to play pirated games violates the services ‘terms and conditions’ and will lead to players being banned.
The statement said, “All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live”.
Adding that, “The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them.”
It is hoped that this move will be a deterrent against video game piracy, which costs the video games industry an estimated £750 million a year.
Microsoft has not revealed how it determined which gamers to ban, but said that all of the consoles affected had been verified as breaking the term and conditions of the service.
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