It was unfortunate enough that my account was hacked. Unexpectedly, after asking customer service for help, my entire Xbox account was permanently blocked, and I was even told to “buy the game again.” A Brazilian Xbox player recently encountered this outrageous situation and decided to take Microsoft to court after multiple appeals to no avail. As a result, the incident quickly aroused heated discussions. The court not only ruled that Microsoft must restore player accounts and all digital game libraries, but also had to pay approximately 2,000 Brazilian reals (approximately NT$10,700, HK$2,900, and RM1,570) in compensation.
It’s the players who have their accounts stolen, and they’re also the ones who pay the price?
According to the player, his Microsoft account was hacked, and even though two-factor verification was enabled, the official account was permanently suspended due to the detection of unauthorized login. What made him even more dumbfounded was that after contacting customer service, the reply he received was that the account could not be restored. If he wanted to continue playing games, he could only re-purchase the works he had already purchased.
Unable to accept this method of treatment, he finally filed a lawsuit under Brazilian Consumer Protection Law. The court held that Microsoft must restore the player’s Xbox account and digital game library, and pay compensation for mental damages; if the restoration is not completed within the time limit, it will also face daily fines.
As more and more digital versions are purchased, players are beginning to worry.
This incident has aroused a lot of discussion, not only because the players won the lawsuit, but also because it once again highlighted the risks of digital games. As more and more players switch to buying digital versions, once their accounts are suspended, stolen, or unrecoverable, they lose not only the games, but the entire game library.
Although this judgment only applies to the Brazilian case, it does not mean that other countries will have the same results, but it has also made many players start to rethink. When all games are tied to the same account, if there is a problem with the account one day, in the end, does the player own the game, or only temporarily has the right to use it.