Microsoft: early Modern Warfare 3 play may risk Xbox LIVE ban

By Tom Warren, on 4th Nov 11 8:38 am with 18 Comments

Microsoft warned on Thursday that anyone attempting to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 could risk an Xbox LIVE ban.

Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox Live, Stephen Tolouse, revealed on Thursday that it was risky to play Modern Warfare 3 before it’s generally available next week. Tolouse originally stated that it was ok to play the game before checking with Activision and backtracking. “For those asking about MW3 pre-release play: If your copy is legit and obtained legitly, have fun. It’s a great game,” he said. He later tweeted “clarification: dblchk’d with Activision. Mw3 pre-release play not authorized. So pls be patient. Playing early may impact your account!” VG247 advises that gamers stay away from online play until Monday.

Activision’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 game goes on sale November 8. The first person shooter is the third installment in the Modern Warfare series and a sequel to 2009′s Modern Warfare 2. The game picks up where Modern Warfare 2 left off and sees the Russian Federation invading the U.S. and Europe. Parts of the game include scenes in England, France and Germany. Players assume the role of various soldiers from Delta Force, Navy Seals and SAS who are fighting terrorists around the world.

Microsoft is also planning to release an Xbox 360 limited edition Modern Warfare 3 console. The limited edition package includes a customized console with graphics from Modern Warfare 3 alongside two custom wireless controllers, a 320GB hard drive and a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The console also includes custom sounds when it’s powered on and off and a disk is ejected.

  • http://www.callumpy.co.uk Callumpy

    Good. I hate the fact that some people are receiving the game early, they should be banned for playing it before its released.

    • Rich

      Would it not be more fair to ban until # days past the official release, with # being how many days early they were?

      Besides, isn’t this a limitation that Microsoft should be managing based on geographical location data and IP?

    • http://www.callumpy.co.uk Callumpy

      To be fair, Microsoft should have a way of blocking the game from actually playing before the release date :P

    • http://www.youtube.co.uk/illage2 illage2

      Yeah there are already 30+ people who are at rank 50 and above. The people who played it before release date should get de-ranked back to rank 1.

  • Penta2100

    I CANNOT WAIT.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jason-Boyd/576666141 Jason Boyd

    What is stupid is that one of these copies was sold on eBay for $1725, and has a shipping arrival date of the the 7th :|

    • Penta2100

      LOL pre ordering at target is just one dollar extra instead of gamestop’s five dollar extra

    • Adam

      you know it’s not actually $5 extra, right? it’s $5 down, and when you go pick it up it’s [price of game] + tax – $5

  • Anonymous

    Shouldn’t they be going after whoever released the product early, instead of the user?

    When I buy something, I’m authomatically agreeing to a copyright deal, that says that if I use the product other han personal use I can be sued. But it doesn’t say when or where I can play the game.

    Now, if Microsoft allows their servers to be used to play the game early, they should not penalice the user, but instead rethink the way their system works.

  • Mykel

    If you read the post correctly it’s not Microsoft enforcing this, it’s Activision, Microsoft is just doing what the developer is asking.

  • Anonymous

    ban them for liking your game. only on xbox.

  • Anonymous

    Thats not fair

    • Romerolily

      Wen do they releas the game mw3 on game market place

  • lol

    Don’t get why people are so obsessed about playing it early. If you have played CoD4 you have played MW3.

    • http://twitter.com/texasghost01 Jeff wilson

      They are obsessed about playing it early…not for the fun…not for the thrill.  But so they can be some of the first to post online that they have played it and talk about it.

  • Yolo

    I have the game early. Im scared to play online tho, so I haven’t yet. If they ban me tho, I’ll just buy a new account. I don’t see how play early can be serious people do it all the time and until games only come out via download people are always going to have it early.

    • jake hartley

      u cant just get new account it bannes you xbox from paying live so u need new xbox

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