Ban hammer comes down on naughty ODST players

Legitimate players safe from permaban punishment.

Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox LIVE, has confirmed on his Twitter account that permanent bans to Xbox LIVE and possibly the Xbox 360 console being used are now being dished out to gamers playing an illegitimate copy of Halo 3: ODST.

"Hrm. I spy with my little eye some *illegitimate* ODST players. No early play for you," Tweeted Toulouse. "Commencing permabans."

He also reiterated earlier comments, confirming that only illegitimate players will face a ban. "To be clear, legitimate players (those who bought it early, reviewers, etc) are safe from my team's banhammer."

Halo 3: ODST will be released on September 22, only on Xbox 360.