• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Hacker banned from Xbox Live due to leaking Halo Wars 2 OST, threatened to spoil game

C

Cranster

Banned
sDWizKj.jpg


GameCheat13 is well known in the Halo community for his efforts in leaking unannounced Halo 5 assets planned for future content ipdates. Now it seems he took things a step over the line as he was able to gaina ccess to a build of Halo Wars 2. He uploaded the entire game soundtrack on youtube and notified Microsoft about how he was able to do so. Some of his tweets have promised that if Microsoft doesn't refund his entire games library he will start selling off the Halo Wars 2 PC build to anyone who asks - this build has KEY story information on it that could ruin the story if released. Since his recent blogpost though he has since backtracked and deleted those tweets.

Reddit source.

Gamecheat13 blog update
 
SoulUnison

SoulUnison

Banned
This sounds like banning should only be the prologue to some legal action.
Was he actually trying to, like, blackmail Microsoft into giving him free merchandise and special treatment?

Some of his tweets have promised that if Microsoft doesn't refund his entire games library he will start selling off the Halo Wars 2 PC build to anyone who asks...
Click to expand...

How could he possibly have thought that would end well, not even touching on how he tried to give his shady-asshole ultimatum on Twitter, where it was publicly viewable?
Is this guy like 12 years old?

EDIT: Oh, I see, he wanted the money back for his digital game library since the ban means he lost access to them.
Still, he did something blatantly illegal, got caught and punished, and then does something extra-illegal to try to bully a multi-national company into kissing his ass?
Ok, buddy. Good luck.
 
C

Cranster

Banned
pizzacat said:
Dudes leaking halo 5 assets online and halo wars 2 is when ms steps in
Click to expand...
I think the big difference is that with Halo 5 he was datamining the retail version after each massive Content update which is alot different than how he accessed the unreleased Halo Wars 2 build. Let alone he pirated the soundtrack.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
 
B

BananasWithGuns

Member
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's well within their rights to do so as part of the ToS but yeah, it's a bit odd to me that his account and console are being banned in this scenario.
 
H

Halabane

Member
Blackmailing MS. Wow.

Kind of like the little baby playing pee a boo and no one can see him. Does he really think they can't find him?
 
Y

Yaranaika

Member
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...

Because you don't actually 'own' any digital games you buy.
 
L

leeh

Member
So the dude blackmailed MS with something he illegally required and just got his account banned?

Should think himself lucky.
 
R

RedRum

Banned
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...

Plan as day in their code of conduct:

UPON RECEIVING A PERMANENT SUSPENSION, YOU FORFEIT ALL CONTENT LICENSES, GOLD MEMBERSHIP TIME, AND MICROSOFT ACCOUNT BALANCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUSPENDED ACCOUNT.
Click to expand...
 
C

Carlius

Banned
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...

this. seriously. the fucking digital games bullshit.
 
L

LycanXIII

Member
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...
Digital rights and ToS, this has been a thing since XBL and PSN started.
 
staticneuron

staticneuron

Member
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...

It gives the impression his game library is online. Which is why people were against the always online ambitions in the first place. It is understandable if you purchased games digitally over a service. You have to abide by TOS and EULA. But if you purchased games on disc, they shouldn't be able to ban that.
 
C

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Some of his tweets have promised that if Microsoft doesn't refund his entire games library he will start selling off the Halo Wars 2 PC build to anyone who asks - this build has KEY story information on it that could ruin the story if released.
Click to expand...
This guy got off easy if MS decides not to pursue him legally. Because goddamn if this isn't a stupid threat to make.
 
CassidyIzABeast

CassidyIzABeast

Member
If you're dumb enough to claim responsibility for leaking info from a unreleased game and uploading the soundtrack under your regular accounts your dumb ass deserves whatever is coming.
 
R

RedRum

Banned
gossi said:
Indeed, you agree to the T&C on sign up. If you don't like, DON'T SIGN UP. (Also, don't try to blackmail a trillion dollar corporation).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I understand that this might not seem like it's fair, but it's not like it is being hidden. I found it in less than 15 seconds. No one is forcing you to use the service, but if you choose to use them then you have to abide (like fucking everyone else) by the rules. I'm sure this is the same for most services out there.
 
V

Vanguard771

Member
It takes guts to threaten a company as large as Microsoft with intentional piracy. At least he has listened to some better judgement and backtracked.
 
K

Kaelan

Member
SoulUnison said:
This sounds like banning should only be the prologue to some legal action.
Was he actually trying to, like, blackmail Microsoft into giving him free merchandise and special treatment?



How could he possibly have thought that would end well, not even touching on how he tried to give his shady-asshole ultimatum on Twitter, where it was publicly viewable?
Is this guy like 12 years old?

EDIT: Oh, I see, he wanted the money back for his digital game library since the ban means he lost access to them.
Still, he did something blatantly illegal, got caught and punished, and then does something extra-illegal to try to bully a multi-national company into kissing his ass?
Ok, buddy. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this isn't the right course of action IMO.
 
C

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Kaelan said:
Yeah, this isn't the right course of action IMO.
Click to expand...
This dude was literally attempting to blackmail a multi billion dollar company with threats of leaking assets that he couldn't have gotten legally unless they refund him.
 
G

gossi

Member
Ozigizo said:
You're right, they should sue him in to oblivion.
Click to expand...

Since he claims he has a full working build of Halo Wars 2 on Windows 10, a game which isn't out yet, he's admitting to theft and arguably blackmail (by threatening to release in exchange for things). The last time a similar thing happened I can think of was Valve with Half Life 2. They called the FBI, who arrested the guy.

This is some dumb shit, basically.
 
H

Hektor

Member
Microsoft can sue this guy to hell and back again for pirating the OST of their unreleased videogame as well as blackmailing them with his alphabuild.

Dudes lucky if he only got banned.

I really like leaks because this industry is far too secretive most of the time, but you can't blame a company for taking measures against leakers, especially with leaks of such scale.
 
D

DocSeuss

Member
I want to point out that most of the time someone shows a developer how they're able to do something like violate their security, there's often a bounty/reward payout.
 
G

gossi

Member
DocSeuss said:
I want to point out that most of the time someone shows a developer how they're able to do something like violate their security, there's often a bounty/reward payout.
Click to expand...

He didn't do that. He's been hacking MS for years. He releases the assets online, and doesn't explain how he got them (edit: somebody points out below he's claiming he notified them about this one)
 
R

Random17

Member
gossi said:
He didn't do that. He's been hacking MS for years. He releases the assets online, and doesn't explain how he got them.
Click to expand...

This is not what got him banned, not even close. Datamining files is not something MS cares about for the most part.

Doing so before the game releases however is what got him banned.
 
C

Cranster

Banned
gossi said:
Oh, I didn't know he notified this time. The problem I have is - did he really notify them?
Click to expand...
That's the problem, we would have to take his word for it. Even then he say's he didn't notify Microsoft until after he uploaded the entire game soundtrack to youtube.
 
T

Tecnniqe

Banned
Shiggy said:
How is it even legal to ban access to his game library? huh
When i go to the supermarket and steal stuff, the supermarket cannot just go to my home and say "You cannot access your fridge anymore".
Click to expand...
You never buy games anymore. You buy a license to use them which can be revoked.

It's usually not done like this, but doing what he did which is illegal at best I do get it. Also fucking lol trying to "sell" a stolen copy of the game to whoever asks.

Like a million dollar lawsuit waiting to happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Phil Spencer interview - Says that their intent is for all Xbox games, including Call of Duty, to be available on Xbox Game Pass Day One
2 3
102
8K
Kenneth Haight replied
The State of Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks: A breakdown of all the Confirmed Projects, Leaks, and Rumors
Opinion News Rumor 2
84
10K
Ozriel replied
[PC Gamer] How Cyberpunk 2077 clawed its way back from disaster to complete one of the greatest redemption arcs in gaming history
Opinion News 2
99
7K
EDMIX replied
Bug Allowed Hackers to Get Anyone’s Email Address on Xbox Live
Drama Platform
12
2K
VolticArchangel replied
Every Activision Blizzard Game in Development (IGN)
Opinion News
39
4K
Sentenza replied
Top Bottom