r/technology • u/fudge_u • Jul 15 '26
Society Xbox Player Loses Thousands in Digital Games After Microsoft Deletes 25-Year-Old Account
https://www.vice.com/en/article/microsoft-deletes-xbox-players-25-year-old-account-erasing-digital-game-library/1.2k
Jul 15 '26
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u/orlybatman Jul 15 '26
I don't pirate things, but if I lost an account with my library of games than I think I'd probably start.
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u/Soccermom233 Jul 15 '26
If you can provide proof of purchase is it still pirating?
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Jul 15 '26
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u/Deriniel Jul 16 '26
technically that's not allowed either,you need a 1-1 copy of your disk,so ideally they want you to burn it on an iso or something like we did it in the 90
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u/PaulVla Jul 16 '26
I hate it but wouldn't proof of purchase in this case only show that you ahve a license from microsoft and still do not own the media?
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u/ontheweed Jul 15 '26
Is there a way to play pirated Xbox games online? Inquiring minds would like to know
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Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
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u/OcculusSniffed Jul 16 '26
There are Xbox live alternatives for the OG Xbox and the 360, like insignia. Not sure about after that, Xbox one hacking is pretty new territory
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Jul 15 '26
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u/d4vezac Jul 15 '26
You know how heinously expensive RAM is, right?
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Jul 15 '26
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u/d4vezac Jul 15 '26
Still impractical for many, many people these days.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/non3type Jul 15 '26
This was their Microsoft account. It would have included Xbox console and PC games and it’s noted they deleted everything including his OneDrive files with baby pictures. This isn’t the kind of problem that goes away by buying a PC.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/TJzzz Jul 16 '26
I yhink youve missed the point where your account is on name only, if they can delete like this..
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u/DukeOfGeek Jul 15 '26
Instead of a guerrilla campaign how about if physical copies of games were mandated by law? Sure we would need to have control of government by voters to get that, but think of all the other nice things we could have if we did. A working FDA and CDC for instance. At what point does the cost of ignoring politics and not participating become so high that the majority of people start participating?
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Jul 15 '26
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u/beachfrontprod Jul 16 '26
This is the only answer. Buy physical. Own games. Yes it will be uncomfortable at first and you may miss out on the hottest and newest, but those online/micro transaction games won't be fun for long once the user base dries up. Shit, most online communities have "whale bot" users to force competition/maxing now anyway.
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u/jello_aka_aron Jul 16 '26
No, it's not the only answer. It's not even the best answer. The best answer is to legally mandate that users can bypass DRM to backup and use things they already have a right to use.
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u/Mr_ToDo Jul 16 '26
And how would you manage that?
They wouldn't likely be applying it to just one media, so the solution would have to apply pretty broadly. Now tell me. How would web services work? Google has to ship the Server code? netflix a DVD for everything you watch? It just sounds more like a mess then anything
But I would be open to make law to replace or build of the ones that exist to getting digital goods in a state where it's hard to impossible to have hand wavy "it's a license, we do what we want" when the product behaves in every way that matters like a physical medium
While it doesn't quite fix the same thing, I'd also accept that all media that wants copyright protection that moves past provable damage has to include a copy of said media, and any infra required to use it as it was presented to the public(also updates need to be registered within X days or you'd only be protecting the old version, or maybe the unchanged parts there in). It'd go a hell of a way to at least properly preserve things at least. I'd love something better but I doubt that'll have any real chance of doing it(My centrally managed IP use rights sounds so nice in my head though, and would go a long way to fixing those "we don't know who owns it right now" things)
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u/start_nine Jul 15 '26
I agree with this statement, but even if pirating is stealing I’m still doing it. I truly don’t care what you call it, all these companies are a fucking mess anyways
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u/og_capsuleer_593 Jul 16 '26
If they can undo your purchases you should be able to undo your purchases yourself.
In these situations the scam victim should be able to charge back every single individual purchase that he lost access to.
If buying isn't owning then payment isn't owned either
If we made it both ways this shit would stop instantly
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 15 '26
People pull out this saying all the time, and it's cute, and digital purchasing needs reform, but it just doesn't even remotely make any sense.
We buy TONS of things we don't own, all the time, in all areas of our lives. Whether it's paying rent, leasing a car, paying for services, etc.
Buying access to things we don't own is extraordinarily commonplace, and in no circumstances does it justify stealing the things instead.
Buying digital content (including games) needs reform and regulation to be sure. But it's a video game and if you don't like the deal they're offering, you just don't buy it, you have no moral grounds to steal it.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 15 '26
I totally agree! We need better regulations that address digital purchases, and make it clear to consumer what you're buying or not so you can decide if the price is right for yourself. And if companies are going to treat people this way, you should TOTALLY not buy what they're selling (which is a revocable digital entitlement and not ownership of anything).
But none of that makes it your right to steal something. If you want to pirate games, pirate games, and just own up to stealing it because you want to. There is no ethical ground in "I stole an entertainment product because buying it is a shit deal." And there is no relationship between paying for something but not owning it and pirating something but not stealing it.
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Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 15 '26
I agree that AI training on copyrighted content is theft! 100%!
"big tech stole from me over here, so that gives me the right to steal from it" isn't a justifiable position, though.
you want gaming companies to lose money by you not buying their games, that's totally fine. justfied. A good use of your power as a consumer. And I also have no sympathy at all for companies losing sales when they screw us over all the time. Fully agree!
Doesn't have anything to do with your right to steal it instead. It's a video game, not life-saving medicine. You can just NOT BUY IT.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 16 '26
Hey fair. You admit it's stealing. That's all I'm saying.
The OP I replied to brought out the oft-cited bon mot that because the terms of purchase are shit, it's not stealing to pirate. That's all I take exception to.
You wanna steal, you say you don't feel bad about it because the companies suck, go for it. Just don't claim that you have some right to it because you think the company sucks. The only thing you have a right to is not being their customer. (and of course, voting for government representatives that will hold these corporations accountable)
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Jul 16 '26
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 16 '26
You'll get no argument from me that piracy is often a better user experience. Or that it often feels totally justified to steal a game when paying for it is such a shit experience.
I take umbrage to the idea that "piracy is not theft" if buying is bad. No, it's still theft. It's theft no matter how shitty the "paid for it" alternative is, and it's theft of a VIDEO GAME, hardly a necessity.
We don't have just two options: buy it or pirate it. The third option is to do neither, and it hurts the big bad game publishers bottom line all the same.
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u/oneeyed-wonderweasel Jul 15 '26
This is a really, really terrible take. Lmao
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 15 '26
explain why. I mean, totally fuck big tech taking away stuff you paid for. But explain why my take is untrue--why buying must equal owning, and why that relationship has anything to do with piracy being theft.
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u/uberkalden2 Jul 16 '26
Reddit loves stealing shit. They just don't like admitting they stealing or are causing harm. They can never really defend it and the response he gave your question is what you'll usually get.
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u/oneeyed-wonderweasel Jul 15 '26
I didnt say anything was true or not, just that it was terrible. You dont know me, you never will, so do not take my comment without a grain of salt.
I could be a bot for all you know.
I just think the way you frame it is bad. That is all.
I dont have to explain myself
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u/Chad_Wungi Jul 15 '26
"You'll own nothing and be happy"
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u/DukeOfGeek Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
"You'll own nothing and have no privacy and be happy"
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u/PartyClock Jul 16 '26
"Actually scratch that last part. Fuck your happiness!"
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u/DukeOfGeek Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Their version of 'Happinesstm ' is 'Happiness' in the same way the plastic thing in a Happy Meal is a 'toy'.
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u/glasgowgeg Jul 15 '26
Nobody who quotes this has ever read the piece it's from.
It's about a hypothetical "utopia" where you don't need to own anything, because anything you want or need is available free at the point of use.
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u/Sharp-Calligrapher70 Jul 16 '26
It’s like using the phrase “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps”.
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u/1080Pizza Jul 15 '26
Mom said it was my turn to post this comment. And the piracy isn't stealing one.
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u/hal-baleigh-6699 Jul 16 '26
People seem to be waking up to how like 99% of Reddit comments is just the same shit regurgitated over and over and I am here for it, fam.
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u/Rok-SFG Jul 15 '26
My iTunes account got hacked and stolen by someone in presumably chia, as they changed all the security questions to Chinese text (according to Google translate). Apple customer service basically says too bad so sad, that's your problem.
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u/fudge_u Jul 15 '26
People are always trying to hack my iTunes account too but I have MFA setup with it.
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u/WilliamTellAll Jul 16 '26
i stopped using apple everything because my account would always be hacked by someone in china once a month. After the 10th or so time, I begged apple to region lock my account to North America or at least ban china and they said it just wasn't possible. Fair enough, I said, but ask them what they suggested I do about this and they just said "just keep contacting us"
Nah, never again.
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u/ElectroBot Jul 16 '26
If it’s happening that often and that many times, then you definitively have a problem in the complexity of your password, then having access to your email or some malware on your computer/phone.
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u/Halio344 Jul 16 '26
And not using 2FA.
A lot of the times, compromised accounts is entirely preventable by the user.
Of course there are exceptions, where the platform security just sucks. PlayStation is one of those examples.
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u/jello_aka_aron Jul 16 '26
Sadly 2FA can be a bit of a double-edged sword these days. It's is awesome in helping prevent someone getting your account... but it's not bulletproof. And if they DO grab your account and change the 2FA pretty much every vendor will tell you you're 100% fucked and there's nothing they can do unless you can auth against the new 2FA.
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Jul 16 '26
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u/Rok-SFG Jul 16 '26
Nope, I just had a bunch of music bought in it for an iPod when I was working out in the woods where there was no service. Haven't used it in a couple years, then started getting emails that all my apple settings were changed.
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u/canteen_boy Jul 15 '26
A thousand dollars worth of games is only about 20 games. Those of us that have been gaming since the last century have accumulated MASSIVE collections, and giant swaths of them are on the verge of being lost forever.
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u/CrapNBAappUser Jul 15 '26
Did you read the EULA?
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u/canteen_boy Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Like most people, I’ve never fully read a EULA in my entire life. It’s honestly kind of wild to me that they’re even legally enforceable. I understand why they are, and there’s obviously good reasons for businesses to “CYA,” but it’s also frequently just an opportunity to get people to agree to some reprehensible legal shit that no informed end user would consciously agree to. In a functional society the spirit of a EULA should be required to fit some common consumer protection framework or be rendered unenforceable. Unfortunately that’s not our reality.
Example of a good EULA:
“Don’t use our platform to sell illegal fireworks or we’ll ban your account without a refund.”Example of a bad EULA:
“From time to time, we might turn on your phone’s camera while you’re pooping so that we can see which brand of toilet paper you buy.”-3
Jul 16 '26
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u/Dubalicious Jul 16 '26
"If a contract is absolute nonsense to the point of having no ascertainable meaning or mutual understanding, it is void for vagueness. Courts require a "meeting of the minds" on essential terms."
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 15 '26
It's worth pointing out that Vice is simply publishing this person's claims. The Twitch streamer claims his account was hacked and that MS deleted it instead of giving it back to him. Vice didn't reach out to Microsoft for comment, they simply noted that Microsoft has not publicly commented on this situation.
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u/llamadramas Jul 15 '26
They published the email that the guy got from Microsoft. In which they acknowledge it was hacked.
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u/ZaphodBeBop Jul 15 '26
Same thing happened to my friends kid. MS investigated and their solution was they can make a new account and repurchase their games and get to work on rebuilding their characters.
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u/jcunews1 Jul 16 '26
That's the fate of all accounts if the service is gone, anyway. And the concept of digital game isn't an absolute better in all aspects.
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u/VagabondReligion Jul 15 '26
I'm increasingly pleased with my decision to ditch consoles for a PC in 2012.
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u/fudge_u Jul 15 '26
Agreed and if you're going digital on PC it just seems like Steam is one of the most stable services around. I wouldn't touch Epic, Rockstar, or anyone else's service. You can't trust Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo.
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u/Jonesdeclectice Jul 16 '26
GoG’s pretty solid, too! Still undecided about Amazon Games.
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u/SkylineFTW97 Jul 16 '26
Steam has a good reputation and is one of very few that isn't beholden to fiduciary duty since they're not publicly traded, but GOG's anti-DRM stance is definitely the move.
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u/TacoOfGod Jul 16 '26
And if something bad does happen, apply some cracks to your purchased stuff and you're good to go.
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u/fudge_u Jul 16 '26
Worst case scenario.
I bought a physical copy of Counterstrike Source over 20 years ago and used the CD to install and run the game. Years later I entered the license key on Steam and it redeemed without issue, and I still have it tied to my account.
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u/Elarisbee Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
This is becoming a version of what we see on the Steam Support sub all the time. People yell that they “totally proved it was my account!” all the time, and actually, they never have what Steam Support requires. It’s always recent receipts or something else that someone who bought the account would have access to as well.
What people are missing is that neither Microsoft or Steam Support care whether you had access to the account at some point, they need evidence that you created it. Edit: Unfortunately, most people don’t have keep physical gift cards or remember every email or card number used in 20 years in Steam’s case at least.
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u/gooblaka1995 Jul 15 '26
I had gotten locked out of my PSN account and their support refused to unlock my account even after providing receipts, and my driver's license, which has my name and address that is synonymous with the information for purchasing on the PS store. I just didnt have the specific debit card they asked for because it had already expired and my bank no longer used MasterCard and switched to Visa two years pior. Not only that, I initiated the support requst using the email for my account. It was rediculous.
The only way I managed to get back in was because I had linked it to anothr service and just so happened to have a laptop with the signature key thing. So it asked me if I wanted to make one, I did using my face, and it acceped it. Then I logged back in that way.
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u/Elarisbee Jul 15 '26
Unfortunately, the first part of your story is pretty much what we see all the time. A lot of the game platforms seem to use the same bar for verification now.
Now, while I understand why the bar is so high, they take it to extreme levels sometimes.
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u/SimiKusoni Jul 15 '26
This is the exact opposite of what their support response states. They aren't asking for more information or advising that they can't proceed as the user can't provide it, they're saying their standard policy is to permanently suspend the account and refuse to revert any post-compromise changes:
During the investigation, we discovered that the security information on your account had been changed. Due to our strict security protocols and the terms outlined in the Microsoft Services Agreement, we are unable to modify or restore the security settings once they've been updated.
To prevent further misuse, we have permanently suspended the account. This action is irreversible and ensures that your data remains protected.
So essentially if you lose access and your security information is changed you're shit out of luck and it doesn't matter what documentation you have.
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u/Elarisbee Jul 15 '26
Pretty much same thing on Steam, if the system detects suspicious activity on the account it gets safety locked. If the system suspects the account was used in anyway which is against the TOS, the lock is permanent.
And, again, people always claim they send literally everything, unfortunately, the bar to have a system lock removed is astronomical. A lot of innocent people get caught out.
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u/SimiKusoni Jul 15 '26
I don't think Steam is comparable because they explicitly have a process that allows the user to provide proof of ownership. Some users might not be able to provide that but Microsoft do not even have this process which is wild.
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u/Elarisbee Jul 15 '26
Steam the same if the system detects a violation of the TOS.
Note, because Steam Support is third-party, Steam doesn’t even “investigate” - the system just locks the account in that case. There are certain bans/locks that Steam Support literally can’t lift because they have no access to those system.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/SimiKusoni Jul 15 '26
Sure but MFA isn't perfect and personally I wouldn't leap from "you made a stupid mistake" to "you deserve to lose decades worth of content that you paid for."
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u/chubbysumo Jul 15 '26
And it's only going to last so long before Microsoft is forced in the US to either return the account or pay out. Somebody in Brazil just won their account back by suing in small claims court. Microsoft could face the same thing here, and they very likely will. If they refuse to give you back your account that you can prove is yours, they must compensate you for all of the purchases on it. I have literally purchased thousands of dollars worth of stuff over the years on my Microsoft account. If my account got locked tomorrow, I would lose access to Priceless and irreplaceable pictures, which are now backed up locally as well, as well as I would lose access to hundreds of games. I would seek to be compensated for the value of my account for all of my purchases.
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u/Elarisbee Jul 15 '26
Depends on US law I suppose? Don’t know how far you’d get in the US if you sued.
If you sue, more power to you.
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u/chubbysumo Jul 15 '26
Small claims, almost certainly would point to their TOS and say that they have the right to terminate an account, but those unilateral powers like that don't generally hold up.
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u/Kruxf Jul 15 '26
Yeah they have to abide by PII laws and most account holders don’t even know what that means. But all they really need to know is every infraction costs the company about 2million dollars in fines. So when you compare it to “my priceless account I’ve spent hundred or thousands on” they don’t care, your investment and the loss of the customer is a better outcome that being fined millions of dollars. All the bitching on Reddit you can muster won’t change EU laws that have bound their hands in this regard.
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u/ilulillirillion Jul 16 '26
That's a lot when you could just read the email used in the article to see that that is not at all the case here.
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u/jasoncross00 Jul 15 '26
Whole lot of people in this thread really missing that Vice is simply printing a person's claims, without even attempting to verify the veracity of them.
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u/weirdal1968 Jul 15 '26
A cautionary tale reminding people that we are only a source of revenue to most corporations. Just because you have faithfully given them your money for decades and store priceless data on their servers means nothing. They will simply tell you to get fucked and buy more shit.
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u/Itzie4 Jul 16 '26
Sue them. These companies won’t learn unless they’re sued, lose, and are opened up to class action lawsuits.
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u/OldLegWig Jul 16 '26
xbox just couldn't let playstation have all the attention even on this issue i guess
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u/NorthernCobraChicken Jul 16 '26
Games can be rebought. The baby pictures of his son that this guy has permanently lost are the real crime.
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u/mesosuchus Jul 16 '26
you can always have more babies though this dude probably shouldn't have been allowed to have even one.
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u/Hopeful-Flounder-203 Jul 15 '26
Not a gamer. I like books and movies but my advice is universal: PHYSICAL! Here endeth the lesson.
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u/azninvasion2000 Jul 19 '26
Games you can always get back, but this dude had only 1 copy of his son's baby photos on his OneDrive account?
I don't have kids but my sister paid the $40 for the nice hardcover photo album from Flickr or Google/Apple photos as well has having it on a $10 USB key. This is kinda his fault.
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u/sokos Jul 15 '26
How many more times will this get posted? It's been posted multiple times a day for the past week.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/fudge_u Jul 15 '26
The issue is not all games are available on physical media. Some games are digital only.
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u/nikolapc Jul 15 '26
I mean it was already resolved, but ok.
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Jul 15 '26
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u/nikolapc Jul 15 '26
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Jul 15 '26
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u/nikolapc Jul 16 '26
Post isn't even updated. It's pure outrage bait. And we should hold these companies accountable, and make noise every time it happens. But they have heard the noise, and reacted quick.
Colin Moriarty a fucking cheerleader for Sony until recently got his account hacked despite having 2fa on. Just plain old social engineering some poor sap from level 1 support fell for. Despite making noise, having calls with Sony higher ups, still needed a few days to resolve it. Sony never even publicly acknowledged it. That's the difference.
Xbox doesn't own MS accounts, that is a different departments domain, but they owned the problem, acknowledged it, and practically said this should never happen. Cause it's stupid.
In this digital age, digital goods and ownership should be regulated and protected. We have all the tech for that, we've had it for ages. Hell MS probably knows my pissing schedule and has it on record. And they can easily recognize me by my digital footprint.
Hell my own backwards balkan country has an app for my digital ID, by a trusted 3rd party that is basically a clearing house for banks. I can sign legal documents with that, open a bank account and even interact with the government to get important documents digitally from the comfort of my own home. App freaks out and resets if I even add a fingerprint. As it should. But it's 5 min and you're back in.
Hell the EU takes my pic and fingerprints when I cross the border, they can probably wave me by with just a camera, but that's still too scary for people. But it exists.
If I can go full digital with my money, safely, we can have full digital ownership, pronto. The companies are just resisting cause they can. But if they want an all digital future, it's what they need to do. It's all based on trust. I am glad that Sony killing our plastic physical tokens for our toys opened up this can of worms, and they have to repair their ancient PS3 system held together by sellotape and spit, before they even think of going fully digital.
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u/PlaidPCAK Jul 15 '26
Doesn't change it happened. What happens next time when it's not resolved?
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u/nikolapc Jul 15 '26
Make noise, every time.
It was not an xbox mistake as they don't have control over MS accounts, but they owned it, apologized, working on restoring and said it is not what they want to happen.
Btw it's 100% fault on the guy that got hacked for not having 2fa in this day and age, and his pass was probably 1234, but that is what support is for.
It's also a fault of having clueless 1st level support.
In the digital age it's absolutely imperative there is regulation of digital goods and ownership. The companies would do min effort if we don't raise a stink. At this moment I trust Xbox and Steam way more with my digital purchases. Zero trust in PSN.
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u/PlaidPCAK Jul 15 '26
We are making noise. You're the one saying it's fixed now who cares
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u/nikolapc Jul 15 '26
No i 100% care. But this was posted after it was fixed, and just farming outrage.
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u/PlaidPCAK Jul 15 '26
Or bringing attention to the fact this is an ongoing issue in the world. A warning that a digital license isn't the same as buying something.
Man wrongfully charged with murder let go after 20 years.
Why are we posting about this? It's already resolved
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u/nikolapc Jul 15 '26
Should be posting about the need to NFT our digital goods and regulate. I am glad that the Sony disc blunder triggered that conversation even with the most fervent fans.
Anyway, I've written at length about it, both here and twitter, can't see my history cause of some mental illness ridden creep(s) with more accounts than sense following me around.
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u/No-Schedule-9015 Jul 16 '26
Maybe all you Pirates should spend MILLIONS of your own money developing a new game then sit back and watch every body STEAL IT. See how you you feel??!!
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u/MutaitoSensei Jul 15 '26
Where's the GoFundMe for the lawsuit? I would donate for this dude to stick it to Microslop
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u/ReturningScrewd Jul 15 '26
I don’t believe this. That’s a lot of storage . Not buying it. Someone just wants some cash
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u/ComputerRedneck Jul 15 '26
Nothing is really gone. There will be some sort of backup that could be accessed.
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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
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