Microsoft: "It wasn't a million" bans

By Oli Welsh Published 23 November, 2009

Reports of modders' demise exaggerated.

Microsoft's Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live, has denied the recent reports that Microsoft banned one million modded 360s from the online service.

"We didn’t release the number. I cannot explain to you why people would think it was a million people. It wasn’t a million people," Whitten told VentureBeat. "Check the veracity of that claim. It was one news source."

That source was InformationWeek, which said two weeks ago that Microsoft banned "as many as one million" consoles that had been modified to play pirate games from Live. The claim was widely repeated, including by the BBC.

Whitten also discusses the recent launch of Facebook and the boost to Xbox Live subscribers and concurrent players provided by Modern Warfare 2. "Modern Warfare 2 was phenomenal. Those guys at Infinity Ward are amazing. It pushed us into the record," he said.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_dudefather #1 2 years ago

    it was really 1,000,001

  • the_sas_man #2 2 years ago

    Who cares if it was 1 million or 10 million - I pay for my gold service and pay for the games such as MW2 - I don't see why modders should be using a service we all pay for, especially with dodgy games.
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/09 @ 10:00

  • MiniAmin #3 2 years ago

    I love my X360. It wouldn't surprise me if it was two million users who'd been banned.

    After all MS initially said similar things about RROD. MS shouldn't really be defensive about the figure anyway. You void your warranty and other rights when you mod the console.

    edit: Hey look, there's Ellie!
    Edited by 1 at 23/11/09 @ 09:19

  • Apostle #4 2 years ago

    We're supposed to feel sorry for all the people that pirated the game or something? If it gets rid of some idiots on Live, that's fantastic.

  • Goodfella #5 2 years ago

    I would say there are more idiots on Live who haven't modded their 360.

  • Eraser #6 2 years ago

    "After all MS initially said similar things about RROD."

    That is something completely different.
    I think MS banned a lot less than one million XBoxes. Why would they provide lower number than what actually happened? This wouldn't be in their favor. In the RROD case, it's clearly favorable for MS to lie about the numbers being lower than they actually are.

  • jebus #7 2 years ago

    Exactly sas_man - who cares. In fact there was a really funny interview on Newsbeat with someone who was banned, I was crying with laughter "What am I going to do now" type of thing

    Ah here it is - good for a Monday morning chuckle.

    [link url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/n ewsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10000000/newsid_10002900/100029 15.stm
    ]http://ne ws.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/techno...[/link]

  • miiiguel #8 2 years ago

    I would say there are idiots everywhere. Idiocy is most likely even in the eye of the beholder.

  • Earlyflash #9 2 years ago

    That's a hilarous link. So, he's going to move to PS3 where he has to pay for all his games? Bizarre logic.

  • Nephirion #10 2 years ago

    /reported

  • Monkey_Puncher #11 2 years ago

    I find this move truly disgusting and dishonest by Microsoft! How dare they take action over people who are pirating and stealing their games, my heart goes out to the poor innocent pirates :(

  • siwrath #12 2 years ago

    the people who are innocent are the people buying pre owned consoles from game/gamestation

  • trevd72 #13 2 years ago

    Here are the facts. a pirate gets a shit load of downloads off the net over the year. possibly saving £1000 or should i say playing £1000 worth of games, they would never have bought anyway.

    after a year they get banned put the chipped box in the under the new one that they have just got a great deal on and happily play mw2 while still getting assassin's creed 2 from a torrent site. Don't waste your sympathy on the pirate they are already ahead of the game.

    And its not theft.....its copyright infringement. Ignore wot those losers at fast say cos they are worse than the pirates and out to extort money from the siuation. When I used to be a IT manager they would always make threatening moves so that you paid them to be a member and for them to come to your site to check you did you job right,

  • Bigglesworth #14 2 years ago

    Those naughty websites, posting misleading and speculative headlines, eh??

  • Jonny5Alive7 #15 2 years ago

    I don't have a problem with modders, but they all know the risks of doing it. I don't really understand why the press has been getting so worked up about it.

  • coomber #16 2 years ago

    ^^ Speaking of which, the headline on this story suggests Microsoft has banned people for saying "It wasn't a million"!

  • gjgjg #17 2 years ago

    they should seal the box with red paint explosions like in those cases of brinks money i 'found'

  • Lawlost #18 2 years ago

    Very pleased to see MS ban the numb nuts pirates like Raz in the BBC news link, but I have heard that some people were banned just for playing MW2 earlier than the release date. A few people got their copies posted to them early because of the postal strike, so understandably started playing. I would be so gutted to get banned for that. It maybe that the above is just a rumour and MS genuinely only banned the pirates can anyone confirm if this happened to them?

  • gman7714 #19 2 years ago

    @ Lawlost

    I received my copy of MW2 on the saturday prior to launch and played on live - thanks coolshop :-) - and was not banned. Though my 360 did black screen (audio but no video) a few days later :-(

    Edited by 1 at 23/11/09 @ 13:49

  • davisorle #20 2 years ago

    @Eraser

    So according to you they lie now and deffend themselves and have a reason and mean it. And when it was abotu the RRoD it was a lie from MS cause it was convinient for them? well isnt this all a matter of it being convinient for the kiddos over the net by the end of the day instead? :) Whatever tickles everyone pickle. I dont really care. Just funny how things are said and done with.

    Even if its 0.6-1m as said or double the figure or even just 10 accounts banned why would it matter? MS has officially announced of banning consoles that use pirated software when moded. Its funny though that the day the roumor of 1m bans they also figured out how to reanable 360s online after being banned. o.O

  • Zephro #21 2 years ago

    @ Lawlost

    I believe it's related specifically to the bypassing of DRM though I'm not clear how they do it.

  • Lawlost #22 2 years ago

    sounds like the MW2 rumour is quashed then. The other thing I heard was that people who had replaced their DVD drive (as the original had failed) were also being banned is this also bullsh*t?

  • daz217 #23 2 years ago

    I think it is possible people that have been banned because they have replaced a broken DVD drive . Microsoft are banning consoles by detecting a change in the DVD firmware

  • monkeywithnoeyes #24 2 years ago

    they really are going all out with the ban hammer these days.. i've already had one on my friends list banned (and he's a uk gamer).

    I doubt its touching the millions.. but it will be easily in the good thousands. And ofcourse they're right to do it. Its obsurd that some gamers are planning on sueing Microsoft for their supposed "timing" of the bannings.. a "take the cash and run" policy from new gold subscribers who have soon found themselves banned.

    This is obviously one of the benefits of having a closed network. Dirty little pirates!

    Now in my smug superiority i'm off to get some music

  • smelly #25 2 years ago

    I'd love them to ban single players too... screw the pirates!

    (yes mr campbell - i'm looking at you)

  • smelly #26 2 years ago

    @jebus : That was great... Boo-fucking-Hoo.. You;d have thunked the bbc would've thought more about publishing such an article.

    The kid is openly admitting to breaking the law FFS!.. And then crying about it when he's caught!

  • smelly #27 2 years ago

    sooo much to reply to in this thread!

    "but I have heard that some people were banned just for playing MW2 earlier than the release date. "

    Proof? Or it didnt happen.

  • Turambar #28 2 years ago

    "I think it is possible people that have been banned because they have replaced a broken DVD drive . Microsoft are banning consoles by detecting a change in the DVD firmware"

    I know I have. DVD drive broke out of warranty so I decided to replace the Hitachi drive with a quieter/cheaper BenQ drive myself. Don't really care though, never used Live, barely use my 360 at all these days. It's seen more use testing second hand games for my cousin in Ireland than it has actual gaming this year I think.

  • Lawlost #29 2 years ago

    @smelly o_0 read the thread through properly! I said it maybe well be a rumour that people were banned for playing MW2 early and asked if anyone could confirm, gman7714 confirmed this was rubbish.

  • FrankCannon #30 2 years ago

    That BBC article seemed suspicious to me, bet it was Peter Mandelsons' evil influence, part of his crusade against piracy.