Why You Shouldn’t Pirate Halo 4

The internet is still buzzing with Halo 4's sudden appearance on torrent sites almost a full month before its official release. While it's understandable to be excited to play it early, the big question is, should you?

Aside from the fact that you need a modded console to be able to play it and that  the developers won't see a dime from you pirating the game, I think this next bit will be the most important thing to some gamers. 

Ready?

Your Xbox LIVE account can and will get banned from playing leaked/pirated game. Seeing as this is not the first time this happened to a big game, you'd think people would know better. Everytime a big game gets leaked, people pirate it and get their Xbox Gamertags banned. You know what's even worse? They complain about it, too.

For those thinking of pirating Halo 4 — or any leaked game for that matter — here's what you can expect in your email inbox.

Keep in mind that playing a pirated/leaked game is different from getting a game early from a retailer and playing it. This has happened numerous times, too, and Microsoft won't ban you for a retailer's mistake. If you don't believe me, here's what the Official Xbox Support Twitter account had to say regarding the matter.

You can play it online. If you get any game legitimately before a release date, it's safe to play ^JN

So, if you got the game a week or two early but from a retailer, you should be fine. If you're wondering, yes, Microsoft has ways of tracking down if the game you have on your Xbox 360 is legit or pirated. Even if you don't connect to the internet and play the pirated copy and then connect, they will still know. Think of it as electronic voodoo that I have no idea how it works.

Is it worth it getting your Gamertag and Achievements banned permanently just to play a game early? Honestly, I don't think so. Also, those people who worked their asses off for years in making Halo 4? Yep, they won't see a dime, too.

Sit tight, everyone, November 6 is just a few short weeks away and when that date comes, you can play Halo 4 the way it was intended to be played.

Thanks, Reddit