Over the past few weeks, one thing that has become immediately apparent – aside from Konami’s incessant tailspin – is that Microsoft is slowing building towards revealing some form of Gears of Wars remaster. With Black Tusk Studios now developing the next entry in the series, it makes total sense to release a revamped compilation of the genre-defining shooter, though a handful of Xbox One owners are facing punishment after leaking footage from the remake’s wide-scale beta test.
In response to the breach of contract, Microsoft is issuing Xbox Live bans to those in question, and even revealed that it holds the power to disable Xbox One consoles remotely should the situation ever arise. First picked up by Kotaku, here’s the company’s official statement regarding those testers.
This being said, as per that agreement with the testers in fault, Microsoft also permanently disabled their Xbox Live accounts (as well as other suspected accounts present on their Xbox One kits) and temporarily blocked all of their Xbox One privileges – meaning that for a period of time which Microsoft decides on depending on the severity of the offense, their Xbox One is entirely unusable.
The majority of these clips were captured using the hardware’s built-in DVR functionality, though the fact that the users broadcasted the footage violated a non-disclosure agreement means that Microsoft has every right to give out a few slaps on the wrist. Still, who knew the company had the power to effectively brick any given Xbox One remotely?
Microsoft’s as-yet-unconfirmed rerelease – which is purportedly called Gears of War: Ultimate – is expected to be officially revealed during E3 in June.
