Microsoft starts Gamerpoints crackdown

Major Nelson touts the opening of a new front in the war on those "abnormally" obtaining Xbox 360 and Windows Live achievements.

Posted Mar 25, 2008 2:07 pm PT

Microsoft today announced that, as promised, gamers who cheat their way to a high gamerscore will now have their accounts reset.

Last October Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb announced the Xbox Live team was cracking down on users who didn�t heed the service�s terms of use. At the time, Hyrb issued a thinly veiled warning to people using "nefarious techniques" to increase their scores and obtain achievements.

"Let me be more clear: If you use tampered game saves to boost your Achievements and gamerscore, you may sign in to Xbox Live one day and discover that we have removed your gamerscore," he cautioned. "Once we do that, you will never be able to re-earn those achievements on that account. Even worse, you might have your account and/or console banned from Xbox Live."

Today, Hryb posted a message to his blog announcing the crackdown. He said those who are found to have used illegitimate game saves or account transfers to boost their gamerscore have had their gamescores reset. Furthermore, said cheaters� gamercards will now prominently display messages identifying that they cheated. Those named and shamed in this manner can rack up new achievements and points, but they can�t get any of their prior points back, including ones they earned legitimately.

Here is an example of a cheater�s gamercard:

"Today we took action on some of the accounts we have identified as the most serious offenders," Hryb said. "Xbox Live remains committed to keeping the service free of cheating in order to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone."

Xbox.com has also updated its system use area with information on gamerscore corrections and tampering, with the addition of a FAQ on the topic.

Credits: XGC Chandler XS, Gamespot