Some Xbox Users Claim They’re Getting Banned Indefinitely

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 8, 2025 108 Views 4 Min Read
Some Xbox Users Claim They're Getting Banned Indefinitely

Summary

  • Some Xbox users are receiving indefinite bans for using VPNs to exploit regional pricing differences.
  • Microsoft does not explicitly forbid VPN use but may be cracking down on users abusing VPNs for cheaper purchases.

Some Xbox users are reportedly receiving indefinite bans for making game purchases via virtual private networks (VPNs). This purported development has prompted some calls for Microsoft to revise its community standards and make it clear what kind of VPN use is and isn’t allowed on the Xbox Store.

From avoiding ISP throttling to enhancing privacy, VPNs have long had useful applications in online gaming and elsewhere. However, using them to exploit regional pricing differences for cheaper purchases is against many online storefronts’ terms of service.

baldur's gate 3 xbox player banned for recording nudity explicit content

Related

Xbox Player Gets Banned for 1 Year After Recording Baldur’s Gate 3 Scenes

A player accidentally gets a one-year ban for recording video clips of Baldur’s Gate 3 on his Xbox, and he remains hopeful of winning the appeal.

Microsoft might have now started cracking down on such VPN applications in the Xbox community, to the point that some users are facing indefinite bans for spoofing their location data. Global price comparison website Xbox-Now recently began warning users against buying games in countries where they are extremely cheap, citing several examples of people being banned after purchasing an Xbox game via a VPN. However, the exact reason behind this recent wave of sanctions appears to be more complicated than a blanket VPN ban.

Xbox Doesn’t Forbid VPN Use—Only VPN Abuse

In early March 2025, Twitter user Rho_tter claimed that their Microsoft account was banned because they were using a VPN to switch their Xbox Store region to Argentina. A screenshot of the email they received from Xbox support indicates that the ban was due to exploiting extreme regional pricing differences by purchasing products from foreign storefronts. The email clarifies that VPN use itself is not prohibited by the company. However, Rho_tter noted that even taking advantage of regional pricing differences is not explicitly prohibited by the Xbox Community Standards, leading them to call the cited rule “fabricated.”

True to Rho_tter’s claim, Game Rant found no mentions of VPNs in the latest version of the Xbox Community Standards for the United States, which was most recently updated in May 2024. However, the Xbox Store has dozens of regional variants, each subject to its own set of guidelines communicated in its target language.

Rho_tter claims that Microsoft took a while to crack down on their VPN use, stating that they’ve been spoofing their location data to access the Argentinian version of the Xbox Store since November 2023. One person caught in this recent wave of bans—Twitter user Alex_Gezonex—reportedly had their account reinstated within days. The full extent of the ongoing crackdown is unclear, but the situation has already prompted some social media users to call for clarity on Microsoft’s VPN policies, which some see as too vague. Coincidentally, this is the second time in recent months that the company’s account suspension practices have come under scrutiny, following the reversal of some Microsoft Rewards bans in January 2025.

Source: Xbox Community Standards

Source link