Microsoft warns against playing Red Dead Redemption early on Xbox One

Yesterday, it was discovered that not only is Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption coming to Xbox One via the system's backward compatibility feature, but that it was actually already playable.

Though not officially announced or supported, Xbox LIVE users found that they could actually download the Xbox One version early and play it in certain instances. Similar to the Left 4 Dead situation, all you had to do was find someone following the game to access the Red Dead Redemption page for Xbox One, and if you already owned the game digitally for Xbox 360, you are able to download and play it.

While that may or may not still work, Microsoft warns against it. Responding to a user, Microsoft said access Red Dead Redemption in its current state may be a violation of the Xbox LIVE Code of Conduct.

Xbox LIVE's Code of Conduct states explicitly states that you should not "play a game before it has been authorized for play on the service."

Some on NeoGAF who were previously able to download the game early are now reporting it fails to launch on Xbox One. However, apparently it's still playable offline, though you can't save your game.

Neither Microsoft nor Rockstar have yet to officially announced the game's availability on Xbox One via backward compatibility, but seeing as how it's playable, I imagine official confirmation is coming soon. Last month Microsoft announced a change in the way they announce new backward compatibility games. Rather than waiting until a set monthly launch date to reveal and release a fresh batch of titles, Microsoft will instead release backward compatible games as they become ready and available.

As always, we'll continue to monitor the situation and let you know if anything new arises.