Modern Warfare 3 is due out next week on Tuesday, November 8th. Apparently a few stores have decided to get a jump on sales ahead of the release date and selling the game early. This seems to happen every major blockbuster release and in the recent past if you legally bought the game from a retailer you were ok to play early. Those who bought pirated games risked an impact on their account.
What is “breaking” about this news is it looks like Activation is taking a different approach with this release. Microsoft’s Stephen Toulouse, Director of Xbox Policy and Enforcement, has hit Twitter to warn those already in possession of the game that neither Activision nor Microsoft has cleared the title for play on Xbox Live.
Microsoft has long had a system in place to keep things fair on Xbox Live and help protect the health of the game industry. As example Microsoft banned upwards of 1 million consoles prior to the Modern Warfare 2 release in 2009 for people playing pirated copies of the game prior to release. Microsoft not only has the ability to ban the gamertag involved, but also the console from using Xbox Live for the duration of the consoles life.
Update: Robert Bowling from Infinity Ward just tweeted out the following:
