Halo 3:ODST is, without a doubt, one of the biggest game releases this month. As is the usual with big releases there have been some sales leaks of the game. An innumerable amount of stores have sold the prequel to Halo 3 prior to it’s intended street date. This means there are people out there playing the game, as well as some pirated copies.
Earlier today Stephen Toulouse, an Xbox Live staffer, said on his twitter “No early play for you. Commencing permabans.” This, unsurprisingly, disturbed some people thinking that he was banning anyone who got the game early. Toulouse later explained that people who purchased the game early are quite safe.
Gaming webblog Kotaku contacted Toulouse and verified what he meant by his twitter comment. It would seem the permabans were solely focused on people who were playing Halo 3:ODST early without legitimate means. The specifics of this process could not be expanded on without giving Hackers some way to bypass it, but he assured Kotaku that “”If a user happens to purchase a legit copy of Halo 3: ODST early, then our problem is not with the user but the retailer who broke the street date. Those individuals will not be punished.”
Frankly I’m not surprised it’s only hackers. Microsoft might have a console known for it’s breakdowns, but they’re not stupid. Street dates are bound to be broken, and people aren’t going to wait on buying them until that street date. To ban user for jumping on a good situation would be in poor taste.