MS clamping down on early ODST sales

By Robert Purchese Published 28 August, 2009

Willl "take action" against buyers.

Microsoft has warned that action will be taken against those who buy Halo 3: ODST early.

The comments come after a French retailer sold the game to customers a whopping month before official release.

"We are investigating a very small breach in our distribution process around the early delivery of Halo 3: ODST units," Microsoft told Kotaku.

"We are also investigating Xbox Live accounts that show activity related to Halo 3: ODST and will take action against those we believe have procured copies of the game illegitimately. We have nothing further to share at this time."

Halo 3: ODST won't be released proper until 22nd September in the UK.

The tactical squad-based shooter is shaping up well, as our gamepage below will point out.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (55) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • sargulesh #1 3 years ago

    Obtained copies "illegitimately"? M$ going after the wrong target here: it's the sellers, not the buyers who 'should' be punished.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 09:17

  • mkreku #2 3 years ago

    You buy your game at a store, go online and get banned? Now that would suck.

  • Tyronne #3 3 years ago

    What happens to those who do purchase a legit copy early for one reason or another?

  • Eisenstein #4 3 years ago

    What happens to those who do purchase a legit copy early for one reason or another?

    Apparently MS thinks that no copy bought before their arbitrarily set date is legitimate. Which, of course, is bullshit.

  • RexRunti #5 3 years ago

    How can you buy it legitimatly if the game isn't out?

    I suppose MS should really go after the stores but that's tricky. By going after the customer it means they have two choices either return the game to the store hence punishing the store or plead with Microsoft who will probably unban you upon release providing you tell them the store you bought it from.

    Edit: I appreciate that the customer won't necessarily know if the game should have been sold to them in the first place.
    Edit2: I'm not condoning MS actions either just explaining them.
    Edited by 2 at 28/08/09 @ 09:44

  • Mkwone #6 3 years ago

    Well thats a load of bum cum. It's the shop owner that should be punished not the customer.

    More importantly how has a shop got the game a month early, i didn't think it was sent out until a few days amybe a week before?

  • speedjack #7 3 years ago

    Wow.

    I didn't even know it had gone gold !

  • JahB #8 3 years ago

    how is some random gamer supposed to know he's buying an illegitimately available game? there's lots of people out there that have no clue when a certain game is coming out.

    so MS are then punishing somebody that bought a game (first party no less) and didn't know the release date? bollocks

  • Ninja_Tino #9 3 years ago

    If I really want a game and I see it in a licensed store then I'm going to buy it, without a shadow of a doubt. I'm not doing any wrong. I would have brought it eventually anyway and the store has obviously paid for its stock. As everyone has said already, blame for the store for breaking the release date.

  • ZuluHero #10 3 years ago

    As others have said - misguided action Microsoft, you're going after the wrong people. You shouldn't come down so hard on people who just can't wait to play your game...

  • Shafto #11 3 years ago

    You can't take action against BUYERS!

    If I walked into a shop selling ODST today, i'd buy it in a heartbeat.

    From a naive consumer's point of view, why would they even know the release date?!

  • dr_faulk #12 3 years ago

    Punish the consumer? Wow.

  • DanWhitehead #13 3 years ago

    The way it's phrased suggests that there's a small sales breach, but they're also watching out for anyone playing pirated copies.

  • miiiguel #14 3 years ago

    Although, is kinda "politically correct" to say it's not the poor kids fault, the truth is the guy made a video and put on youtube, like a tesaer unpacking the game real slow, and saying he bought from a friend in France, and so on. So, it might be bollocks to say it's the customer's fault, but don't over do it. We're not talking about someone who didn't what he was doing.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 09:50

  • asphaltcowboy #15 3 years ago

    Er, before everyone flies off the handle, they've said they're NOT banning legitimate customers who play early, but if you have Halo ODST achievements and haven't played the game, prepare for a gamerscore reset.


  • Yossarian #16 3 years ago

    Curiously, the copies in the wild came from the same French retailer as copies of Halo 3 did. This isn't someone walking into a shop and buying an early copy off the shelf. It's 95% likely these people didn't obtain these copies "legitimately", they're just claiming they did after getting it off the supply chain.

    People have broken street date on many, many games before, including Microsoft-published titles, often by a week or more, and they've done nothing. The situation is apparently different here.

  • Petulant_Radish #17 3 years ago

    Now this may be me being naive, but how would you have the achievements without actually playing the game? I don’t understand how that is possible, but then I don’t cheat to boost my Gamerscore.

  • skillian #18 3 years ago

    Second edit cause lots of people reading this don't seem to have read the full article. They HAVE NOT said they are going to take action against people who buy it. They HAVE said they will take action against people they believe got illegally, basically warning people off downloading it if it becomes available via the net.

    It's EG's fault then for a misleading headline (shockhorror). It says they're clamping down on early sales, not pirate downloads.

  • asphaltcowboy #19 3 years ago

    @Petulant_Radish It is possible to hack your gamerscore. Though quite why you would, I have no idea!

  • schnide #20 3 years ago

    There are two issues here. If they're talking about people who play the game on an illegitimate copy, that's to do with piracy and shouldn't be any different to how they usually monitor pirate games.

    Anyone who bought an original copy of the game from a shop should absolutely not be punished. It's not the consumer's fault if Microsoft can't enforce a street date.

    CNUTS.

  • JahB #21 3 years ago

    @Petulant_Radish

    download illegal copy - disconnect from xbox live - play game - reconnect to xbox live.

    you'll have achievements, but no recorded playtime. MS usually reset the gamerscore to 0 in that case, which is imo absolutely justified.
    edit: typo
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 10:18

  • dirk_aircool #22 3 years ago

    That should make for an interesting court case when grandma Smith buys her relative a game from a shop and suddenly gets mauled by Microsoft . I cant see they have a leg to stand on as any legitimate seller of their goods are acting as an agent for microsoft . tossers.

    MIIGUEL . didnt see vid , just pointing out that Microsoft probably dont have a legal case to take action against purchasures of the game , even if they know the correct release date there is no statute law in the UK to cover release dates of games music or video or cars or anything. the resposibility is solely with the seller .
    Edited by 2 at 28/08/09 @ 10:32

  • miiiguel #23 3 years ago

    Ffs, although, it is stupid to blame who bought a legitimate copy - and they didn't, this was a EG's mess up, like the Live's beeing down in the day of the upgrade - this was *not* a grandmum who entered a random games shop and decided to buy that *new Halo* game that was on the shelf. Check youtube and you see what kind of guy we're talking about (don't know if the video«s still there, though).
    There I'm repeating myself.

  • woodnotes #24 3 years ago

    MS takes action against people who pay money to them for their products?

    It's a bit like handing over the ransom cash at the end of a movie, only to be shot in the head straight after.

  • matrim83 #25 3 years ago

    The tactical squad-based shooter is shaping up well, as our gamepage below will point out.

    Tactical squad based shooter? News to me.

  • Earlyflash #26 3 years ago

    @JahB

    So if I play a game not connected to LIVE, then connect to LIVE, I'll get a ban. Wow, I never knew that.

    I have a 360 connected to my TV downstairs which doens't have internet access, I often play games on that console and then move my GT back upstairs to my LIVE enabled console.

    So, by doing this I'm risking a ban right now?? That has me pretty concerned.

  • miiiguel #27 3 years ago

    "So, by doing this I'm risking a ban right now?? That has me pretty concerned. "

    ahah, A new rumour just started. I'm sure you're fine, what I'm sure Jah meant was that if you play pirated copies like Halo ODST while off-line then you connect to Live you might be at a serious risk.

  • penhalion #28 3 years ago

    Woa woa there Shirly!

    Microsoft isn't banning or otherwise killing anyone who buys ODST early from a retailer i.e. a legitimate copy. They are going to be actively looking for pirated copies of the game online as the early release means that copies will start appearing when those stupid enough to aquire it as warez will try to play it.

    So far a french store has sold some copies and Microsoft know how many, when and in what area they were sold. If someone in England suddenly starts playing it I think it's safe to say goodbye to that particular XBox Live account. Similarly in the states too.

  • Earlyflash #29 3 years ago

    But, he said:

    "you'll have achievements, but no recorded playtime. MS usually reset the gamerscore to 0 in that case, which is imo absolutely justified."

    I thought that Gamerscore = 0 was a gamesaving/glitching issue, rather than piracy related. All piracy gets you is a console ban, iirc.

    I'm actually quite concerned about this now, why would playing a game offline be seen as 'Cheating' and get my gamerscore set to 0?

  • dingo75 #30 3 years ago

    "It's not out unless we say it's out!"
    (c) Microsoft Gaming Division

  • neilka #31 3 years ago

    Nobody's ever been banned for playing a game before release date, and nobody ever will be. MS have no way of knowing for certain whether it's a legitimate copy and they'd have a PR disaster on their hands if they incorrectly banned someone.

  • miiiguel #32 3 years ago

    @ Early: buddy, you're fine, chill. And, pirated consoles do get banned but accounts which use hacked systems also get reset/blocked. I'm sure you will not be seen as a pirate for not having a date registered in every Achievement, some legit ppl have that. Do not worry.

  • miiiguel #33 3 years ago

    "MS have no way of knowing for certain whether it's a legitimate copy"

    That is new... so why do I know at least two kids who had their systems and accounts locked for using a hacked console ? They had a lucky guess? As they did use a hacked console...
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 10:52

  • ZuluHero #34 3 years ago

    @penhalion, asphaltcowboy and others

    To be fair, the article ON EG doesn't tell us that. It makes it sound that they will be coming down on all players who play the game early.

  • sneetch #35 3 years ago

    @neilka
    Nobody's ever been banned for playing a game before release date, and nobody ever will be. MS have no way of knowing for certain whether it's a legitimate copy and they'd have a PR disaster on their hands if they incorrectly banned someone.

    Yeah, for one thing, I bet that ReviewerX from SiteY getting banned for playing the game would have a slightly negative effect on the review score. :)

  • Zomoniac #36 3 years ago

    Now this may be me being naive, but how would you have the achievements without actually playing the game? I don’t understand how that is possible, but then I don’t cheat to boost my Gamerscore.

    As I understand it (never done it), you use one of those X-SATA things that backs up your 360 HDD to a PC, and either set your saves to have all achievements unlocked, or get someone else's 1k save and hack the account it's locked to to your own. When you next turn on the 360 it will unlock them all. Problem being that multiplayer achievements are registered as being achieved while offline, and stuff like play for 1 hour achievements and play for 50 hour achievements unlock about 3 seconds apart, so it's a bit of a giveaway.

  • Farfarer #37 3 years ago

    You what? Go after the retaillers. The folk that bought it didn't do so illegally, if it's in a shop for sale, it's gonna get bought...

    I smell BS M$!

  • SnoopDop #38 3 years ago

    There should be a sticker in games saying "VOID before 22/09/2009" or whatever the release date is.

  • miiiguel #39 3 years ago

    Well, tbf, my Fable 2's copy had a sticker saying "Do not sell before ".

  • vegard #40 3 years ago

    come on MS, only nerds like us (that actually visit gaming sites) would know that the game isn't out yet. if a store sells your product early, you deal with the store, not unsuspecting customers.

  • Tyronne #41 3 years ago

    It would clear the air a bit if the title at the top of the page was altered to `MS clamping down on pirated ODST` rather than early sales.

  • JahB #42 3 years ago

    @Earlyflash

    no need to worry, that only goes for games that haven't been officially released yet.

  • skillian #43 3 years ago

    It would clear the air a bit if the title at the top of the page was altered to `MS clamping down on pirated ODST` rather than early sales.

    And the very first line of the article:

    "Microsoft has warned that action will be taken against those who buy Halo 3: ODST early."

  • asphaltcowboy #44 3 years ago

    @ZuluHero True, but people are commenting AFTER our comments about how outrageous this is... someone might think they're just posting without reading other peoples' comments! ;)

  • Rens11 #45 3 years ago

    bit harsh!

  • ZuluHero #46 3 years ago

    @asphaltcowboy

    On EG? Never! ;)

  • skillian #47 3 years ago

    @MilkybKid1985

    I know, that's what I was saying. I was pointing out that that bit should be changed, not using it as evidence for the other side.

  • cyber_nicco #48 3 years ago

    From this article at least, I don't think we have enough facts surrounding the purchases to just assume they were legitimate retail copies. I would be VERY surprised if they would distribute them so far in advance (even if they are ready for it).

    I think I will try to find out more about this...

    Also...damn French! :)

  • Sharzam #49 3 years ago

    To those saying that microsoft is going after wrong people, i disargree because when its still a month away official launch the only way to get it is by means other than standard retail.

  • masterson #50 3 years ago

    I've still yet to fully comprehend why these dates are so vigorously enforced.
    With just about any other consumer product, if the store has it in stock they're happy to sell it to me - what's the big deal?
    I understand the marketing desire to build hype etc, but would the world really come spinning off it's axis if a few folks got to play a game a few days before others?

  • ShiroBen #51 2 years ago

    Yes, how DARE you buy their game!

  • mizcicz #52 2 years ago

    who wants to play this anyway?

  • muscleblade #53 2 years ago

    I usually buy the game legally in the shop a week or so before the release date. I did it with Gears 2, RE5, SF4 and i also bought Batman AA a week before relase. The reason - a friend is the manager of the shop. Every game shop employee i know take the game home the day they receive the game - 5-7 days prior to the release date. A month is another matter of course.
    Edited by 1 at 31/08/09 @ 09:17

  • hiddenranbir #54 2 years ago

    Damn you customers for loving our product so much that you buy it!

  • Lukey__b #55 2 years ago

    The thing is, they're not going to say "ODST is released on xx/xx/xx, but retailers and consumers can buy and sell it whenever they want". They kinda have to condemn it.....

    Piracy is the thing they're going to really thinking about. What with Spore being pirated before it was released.... can't be good for invester confidence and whatnot.