Microsoft has been a leading light in targeting piracy across its various channels. And now it has set its guns on the gaming world as well… If you are one of the gamers who has been trying out the pirated version of Halo 4, then you better switch over. Touted as one of the most anticipated game of 2012, Halo 4 would now be protected by its own developer, Microsoft which is backing 343 Industries for the game. Over the last few days, many gamers have found their Xbox Live accounts ‘permanently suspended’ owing to the use of pirated versions of Halo 4 on their consoles. This stops them from accessing the multiplayer format via the internet. And if you think that this is cruel, the company promises more severe action in the future. The game which is due for a November 6 release is prepping for a grand opening and fears are imminent with Microsoft that these leaked versions may affect its overall sale. The multi-billion enterprise has issued a statement mentioning that they are ‘aware of isolated cases in which Halo 4 content has been propped on the web’ and assured gamers that they are ‘working closely’ with their security officials and law enforcement ‘to address the situation immediately’. They asserted that ‘consumers should be aware that piracy is illegal’ and they would ‘take vigorous action against illegal activity’ related to their products and services. The leak was first reported by a video game trade magazine which reported about a version of the game which was leaked last weekend and has supposedly gone viral ever since. The game was purportedly leaked over a month ago and is not a new phenomenon in the world of gaming. In the month of September, Capcom was also faced with a severe situation when leaked versions of the game were being sold at a Polish store. The game CD was even being sold on a website by a buyer as well. But the most damage to any game is the leaking of its multiplayer version which involves a lot of gamers and makes for more interesting game play. In this particular case, although Microsoft was successful in getting the accounts ‘suspended’, it cannot curb the users from creating new accounts and accessing the multiplayer format. For now, they have succeeded but the pirated versions would be hard to control considering the range and might of the internet. But the company’s efforts can be lauded at a time when most gaming companies have been suffering silently owing to the damages caused by rampant piracy. Providing good news to the game developers, the recently published Nielson Game Rank Report has established Halo 4 as the most anticipated game of 2012 beating its FPS rival, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Activision, the latter’s developer, was beaten by a slender margin in this survey which gauges gamer/consumer anticipation. The top three is completed by Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 3 which is due for an October 30, 2012, release. Well, we do hope that Microsoft’s war on the pirates continues strongly and they are able to restrict more such perpetrators in the near future.
