Key Takeaways
- Some Xbox users have been banned by Microsoft for purchasing games from foreign stores using VPNs to take advantage of lower prices.
- The message received from Microsoft described the ban as ‘exploiting the differences in pricing between regions or countries that are not the region or country of the account.’
- While there’s no explicit rule banning VPN use for foreign store purchases, the practice is not fully legitimate and carries risks.
According to reports shared online, it seems that some Xbox users have been banned by Microsoft for purchasing games from foreign stores using VPNs. This practice was seen as a way to take advantage of lower prices, which goes against the rules set out in Microsoft’s terms of use.
The situation remains a topic of debate, and it is hard to define exactly where the line is between what is considered a violation and what Microsoft may accept. Buying from foreign stores has always been a bit unclear legally, but now Microsoft is making its rules stricter on this matter.
Xbox Users Claim Bans for Buying Games From Foreign Stores
Another individual, @Alex_Gezonex, who was permanently banned for the same issue, has now been reinstated (attachment).
I want to stress that, contrary to the email’s claims, the Xbox Community Standards do not prohibit this practice – the rule cited is essentially fabricated. pic.twitter.com/D08mRWJsI0
— Rho (@rho_tter) March 5, 2025
For years, using these systems was somewhat tolerated, but it appears that recently, Microsoft has started to enforce stricter controls on the misuse of its store. However, the number of affected cases still seems to be limited.
A specific case was recently reported on the Xbox-Now website. Some users claimed they were banned from Xbox for buying games from Xbox Store divisions in other countries and activating them through VPNs to trick the system about their actual location.
The message received from Microsoft described this as a “fraudulent acquisition or use of Xbox content” made by “exploiting the differences in pricing between regions or countries that are not the region or country of the account.” Interestingly, the user who received the ban was later reinstated, on trust, so to speak.
This issue is not easy to solve. In some cases, companies might raise prices in certain regions to avoid users taking advantage of price differences, aligning them with larger markets. Sony has recently taken a similar approach, but this penalizes users in those regions with higher prices. On the other hand, there is no explicit rule in Xbox’s terms of service that bans the use of VPNs to unlock content purchased from foreign stores. Therefore, it is not technically a violation of the TOS.
For those who don’t know what a VPN is, it’s shorthand for Virtual Private Network. It lets users connect to the Internet from different locations, hiding their actual location and allowing them to access content from other countries.
Regardless, this practice is clearly not fully legitimate, and using it now seems to carry more risks than it did in the past.
