Phil Elliott Wednesday 11th November 2009 Share this article Share

Companies in this article Microsoft

Microsoft has banned a number of Xbox Live accounts from the online service in a bid to prevent the owners of modded consoles using the service.

The platform holder warned last week it would be suspending access to Xbox Live for anybody who had modified their console in order to play pirated discs, although the action won't prevent people from playing games offline.

Although the company declined to release specific numbers, some reports have placed the amount of accounts banned at 600,000 of the 20 million-plus total.

"We have taken action against a small percentage of consoles have been modified to play pirated game discs," Microsoft told GamesIndustry.biz today. "In line with our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox Live community, we are suspending these modded consoles from Xbox Live."