If you were surfing around the Internet this weekend, there's a chance you came across a thread featuring a certain Xbox Live response to a gamer's question via Twitter, and like a few others, you probably got a little perturbed by it.
Mark Doherty had a rather simple question - If, for whatever reason, his Xbox Live account was banned, would he still have access to his library of Xbox One games? Fair enough, as there still seems to be a fair bit of mystery hovering over Microsoft's new console. Microsoft's response to Mark's question? "If your account is banned, you also forfeit the licenses to any games that have licenses tied to it as listed in the ToU. ^AC."
Wow, that escalated quickly. Yes, one banned account, and there goes your chances of playing all those games you bought with your hard earned money, down the drain quicker than not checking in over a 24 hour period.
As per the norm with Microsoft's new console, folks were quick to react to the news. Jenn of Ohio tweeted, "Are you kidding me? Does your company know how many people it's pushing over to Playstation 4?"
Microsoft was quick to press the damage control button: "Sorry for the confusion, that was in regards to Xbox 360. Xbox One licensing info is here: https://xbx.lv/XBOlcns ^AC," Xbox Support tweeted the following day.
Interesting how the mix up happened, because Mark had the name of the console typed out all in capital letters in his initial question, meaning that either the folks behind the Xbox Support account are either grossly untrained, horribly inattentive, or Microsoft as an entity has yet to figure out exactly what the online policies are for the new console. As for what will happen to your Xbox One games should your account be banned, "we don't have any details at this time."
With the backlash against Microsoft already well in place over its cost, online requirement, and used game policy, this latest miscommunication would've been another nail in the console's coffin, well before release. So Microsoft's Director of Programming for the network, Larry Hryb, perhaps better known as Major Nelson, stepped up to try and clarify the issue in a Reddit video interview.
"Absolutely not, you will always have access to the games you purchase," was Major Nelson's response to the question. However, he was not so quick to explain his choice of hat. The discrepancy between Hryb's and Xbox Support's responses wasn't mentioned in the interview, so it's unknown if he was aware of the initial miscommunication.
You can see Hryb's response to the question, as well as others, in the video below.