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An Xbox player claims Microsoft deleted his 25-year-old account after it was hacked, wiping out thousands of dollars’ worth of digital Xbox games. The account also reportedly contained over 25 years of family photos, documents, and other personal data, reigniting concerns over digital game ownership
Microsoft Deletes Xbox Player’s 25-Year-Old Account
An Xbox player claims that Microsoft deleted his account after it was hacked. However, despite proving that he was the original owner, the user says that the publisher deleted over 25 years’ worth of digital Xbox games that he had spent thousands of dollars purchasing on its digital storefront
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Twitch streamer Joshua Kane revealed his troubling circumstances in a post on X after trying to get Microsoft to remedy the situation. “Microsoft DELETED my account AND OneDrive!!?? After ACKNOWLEDGING that I’m the owner of the account and that it was compromised??? 25 f***ng years of data, thousands of euros spent on games?? My son’s baby pictures? GONE!”
Kane then criticized Microsoft for resorting to deleting his account rather than getting it back for him. “One of the biggest companies ever couldn’t do that so they just deleted that ***t like it was nothing?? Shame on you!!” Kane also confirmed that he specifically lost “thousands of dollars” worth of digitally purchased Xbox games that he had built up over the last 20 years
Microsoft has not publicly commented on Kane’s claims at the time of writing
Microsoft Recently Faced Another Xbox Account Lawsuit
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Microsoft has been embroiled in a similar controversy. In July, a Brazilian Xbox fan after his account had been locked. Instead of giving it back to him, Xbox reportedly told him to create a new account and “buy his games again.” However, the user actually managed to win his court case
Many users referenced the Brazilian case and encouraged Joshua Kane to pursue Xbox in court to get his games back. Others said Kane’s situation highlights one of the biggest concerns surrounding digital game ownership—that players can potentially lose access to entire digital libraries tied to a single account
Incredibly, many users also replied to the Twitch streamer and claimed that their accounts had also recently been compromised and locked by Microsoft without any solution for getting them returned. “They did the same to me with my Xbox Account which I had from day one of Xbox Live (20yrs+). Microsoft do not have any support service though in house, it’s all volunteers throughout the community who are super limited and restricted to what they can do,” a second commenter on X wrote, for example.
Kane’s social media post quickly went viral, becoming a cautionary tale about the risks of an all-digital gaming future. Following Sony’s recent decision to stop producing physical PlayStation games in 2028, many players pointed to the incident as another reminder of how much digital purchases depend on access to a single account. For many fans, the situation has reignited concerns over whether players truly own the games they buy digitally
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