Red Dead Redemption’s availability on Xbox One ‘an error,’ access removed

Over the weekend, Xbox LIVE users discovered the availability of Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption on Xbox One via the system's backward compatibility. Never officially announced, Microsoft warned against downloading and playing it early, saying it was against Xbox LIVE's Code of Conduct.

Responding to the uncertainty surrounding the game's availability, Xbox LIVE Director of Programming Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb has clarified it was "accidentally made available" due to an error.

“Microsoft tests all Xbox 360 games with our emulator to ensure a quality experience across a breadth of titles,” Hryb wrote in a response post on Reddit. “Due to an error, some of the games currently in test were accidentally made available. We have since removed access to those games, and apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We will have more information on upcoming releases soon.”

Hryb also took to Twitter to apologize.

Hryb also confirmed Xbox One owners who accessed the game early will not be banned for accessing the game early.

Red Dead Redemption initially led fan voting as the most-requested Xbox 360 game to be made playable on Xbox One, and is currently sitting in third on the list, behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Skyrim. In response to Black Ops 2's backward compatibility, Nelson only replied, "We would love to bring as many Xbox 360 games to Xbox One as we can."

While no official announcement has been made as of yet, it looks like Red Dead Redemption is well on its way to becoming playable on Xbox One.