Microsoft Takes Action On Xbox Live Cheats

Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson, has updated his weblog with details of new actions being taken against Xbox Live users who tamper with their gamerscores and achievements. According to Hryb, action has already been taken on some accounts which he describes as being owned by the “most serious offenders who have violated the Xbox Live Terms of Use”. The move follows new measures introduced last October, to prevent account sharing between users attempting to artificially inflate their gamerscores. This week’s update reveals new punishments, including resetting the entire gamerscore for an account to zero, removing the possibility of regaining previously obtained achievements unless repeated manually by playing the relevant games. In another new move, offending users’ accounts will also be clearly labeled as cheaters on xbox.com, with an example gamercard featuring the legend “I’m a dirty Cheater”. In an updated gamerscore corrections FAQ it is indicated that being labeled a cheater will have no impact on using the Xbox Live service in any way, but that once labeled users will not be able to appeal the decision.