Xbox Store Is Reportedly Blocking Purchases For Users With False Account Regions

The Xbox Store has begun blocking purchases for users with false account regions, based on the latest report.

[OtterX]

This is complete crap. I moved from the US to Europe 10 years ago, but I still use my American account. Come after me and I promise my last little bit of XBox game purchase (Forza, Forza Horizon series, MS Flight Simulator, Minecraft etc) support (PC) will be over for life. They're doing everything they can to really kill off their userbase, eh?

[rippermcrip]

Why haven't you just changed your region?

[OtterX]

Because I still use my American Credit Card and prefer to make US Store purchases. I save money. I'm still an American and I still have a place of residency there when I visit.

[OtterX]

Get this guy added to the Region Police. "We have an illegal! Ban him! Ban him!" 😂

Pin a Hall Monitor Safety Badge on him.

[rippermcrip]

Who cares if you're still an American. You're living there. You should be using the appropriate store. You're trying to get the best of both worlds and acting like they are trying to screw you over or something.

[OtterX]

Because this isn't the same as changing my region for benefit. It was always an American account. I'm not required to change anything. All of my previous purchases, even before I moved here are American licenses.

Check it:

https://support.xbox.com/en...

"Moving your Microsoft account’s country/region might affect your services and subscriptions.
While your Xbox profile info moves with you, and your subscriptions might move to your new location depending on regional availability, the funds that were added to your Microsoft account do not transfer to your new country/region."

I shouldn't even have to gamble whether my games and subscriptions will be retained. Get back to me when you've actually lived abroad.

[isarai]

@ripper

Oh you poor child, you haven't learned that literally every corporation is trying to screw you over. Bootlickers like you are the reason every service in the world is full of this kind of petty nickle and diming. Sitting here sticking up for a multi billion dollar corporation so they can squeeze a few extra cents out of someone is wild.

[isarai]

This was my immediate thought like how do you account for people that just move?

[rippermcrip]

You literally just change it in your account.

[OtterX]

@rippermcrip You make it seem so easy, but I'll give you an example: Minecraft, a US version that was purchased before the move. Any DLC purchased for it is US region. If I change region, DLC is most times no longer valid. I would have to rebuy a regional EU copy of the game and rebuy the new regional DLC.

This is an actual issue I have faced with DLC. While games are region free, regional DLC is not. It's specific to the region you are in. You speak from inexperience in the issue.

[isarai]

@ripper

And then i need to go get a new payment method for that region, and then i need to redo all things my last payment method was tied to, or juggle which services i have under which payment method, then there's the inevitable issues with what you have in your library for games/dlc, not everything is available across all regions, so you could end up being locked out if things you already paid for. All this when all MS has to do is leave it alone.

[OtterX]

@911Operator That is absolutely false. Not sure if you're a recently created Alt account of @rippermcrip or if you're just equally clueless, but I'm still on my US Playstation, Nintendo and XBox accounts w zero issues. And yes, I do see that your account was created just for this article for some strange reason.

[DivineHand125]

I don't believe that they are targeting guys like you. Instead, they are going after the people who claim they are domiciled countries like Brazil, Argentina, Egypt and Turkey which have region adjusted prices for games.

[OtterX]

Yea, I hope so!

[darthv72]

"Minecraft, a US version that was purchased before the move. Any DLC purchased for it is US region. If I change region, DLC is most times no longer valid. I would have to rebuy a regional EU copy of the game and rebuy the new regional DLC."

You don't know that Otter because you have yet to change your region. for all you know the games and DLC will still work jst fine because they have already been paid for. Updating your region does not invalidate already purchased content. It only changes the region in which new purchases are made and the selection available to that region.

why not try it for yourself and see what happens? You should be able to change back.

[jznrpg]

DLC is locked to regions

[Moegooner]

God, you are dumb.

[OtterX]

Wow, so I actually do have 2 PSN accounts, an EU and a US one which I actively do make purchase on both. I only have my 1 US XBox account.

But I can tell you with certainty, with experience from my 2 PSN accounts, DLC is always locked to regions. I've had issue with buying physical games here where I currently live and trying to buy DLC, so I learned that very early on. Hence why I made my EU account. I only play XBox on PC, so everything is digital, I have not bought a physical XBox game since the end of the 360 era, so there has been no need to make an EU account up until now.

I don't know what to tell you, other than come back when you've actually experienced it, rather than speaking in hypotheticals? 🤷

**Edit - and what you're ultimately telling me too is that I should no longer have access to all of the DLC of physical PS4 games I previously owned before moving here. All of that DLC would be thrown in the trash. I could access the game discs, but the regional EU DLC will not even work with it.

Furthermore, the PSN EU store in my particular region now does not even have an English option. I can speak at an Intermediate level now, but will always be more comfortable falling back to my native language, which is English.

[OtterX]

Oh, and I also have 2 Nintendo accounts, local EU and US and I've had the same DLC issue with physical games I have bought.

There was a time when I lived between the 2 countries more, and was constantly back and forth. I'm not getting what is so hard to understand about the challenges of locking oneself into 1 country when living between 2 countries on a regular basis? Not everyone is glued to one location.

I am not even speaking for all of these people gaming, taking advantage of the system. I'm talking about my own, real world experience and how a move like this would hurt people who have legitimate reasons.

[devrimer]

absolutely you are right, I am same like you. :(((((((

[Destiny1080]

80 Billion needs to be repaid

[Hofstaderman]

Daddy Satya wants his green.

[TheNamelessOne]

Damn you, Microsoft, and you're entirely reasonable expectations for keeping people from gaming the system.

[Knightofelemia]

Just another reason for physical I can import the game and play it the machine is not region locked with discs.

[jznrpg]

When you buy games from others regions there is an *️⃣ saying may not have some online capabilities which includes dlc. I have bought many games from Asia and Europe but they were all single player games as some times we don’t get North America release. But I know I won’t be able to buy dlc but more often than not there isn’t DLC for the games I’m buying anyway

[Knightofelemia]

I rarely buy DLC I want the Tales of Arise DLC but that alone is $40 Canadian. Buying costumes, gun skins, added vehicles, just isn't worth it. Only DLC I like is if it's extra missions but with that you're lucky if its worth the price and longer then an hour of Gameplay.

[Vits]

Honestly, I have zero sympathy for those people. They should be banned for this crap of region-hopping that has quite literally destroyed the regional markets of the less affluent regions.

[TheColbertinator]

Hence why you must buy physical. No region locking the game or DLC itself

[OtterX]

DLC is always region locked.

[CrimsonWing69]

Why block purchases? Can someone explain to me why it’s so egregious to buy a game in a different region? I import Japanese games sometimes. So what?

[Friendlygamer]

Currency exchange, you can buy cheaper on a country with weaker currency

[Inverno]

All the stiffs in the comment section so concerned over a company as shady as MS. Seriously what do people get when siding with corps that don't care about em?

[Miacosa]

Makes sense a big hack was to buy Games Pass from a different region for cheap and then using a VPN activate on a US account.

[XBManiac]

It was good while it lasted... Remember the 1$ a month of Game Pass? Good old times.

[devrimer]

This is absolutely insane. I moved from the Turkey to Europe 15 years ago, but I still use my Turkish account. so what now I cannot buy games... I have internet connection at my home in Turkey as well. so what I do. I will make vpn connection from here to my router which in Turkey. and I will send my all connection to that router always. only the way! at least ask for address proof or Turkish ID card proof or phone number, etc... You should NYC like this microsoft !!! :@