Microsoft is selling a pornographic game on Xbox, and it will ban you if you take screenshots

Metropolis: Lux Obscura is a match-3 puzzle game which features vaguely pornographic cartoon comic panels, and you can get banned from Xbox Live if you take screenshots of it.

Ah, algorithms. Smart for reducing your human work force, yet often a dumb way to treat your customers. Microsoft's NSFW-shy image processing A.I. has been banning people from Xbox Live for screenshotting a game on Xbox Live, known as Metropolis: Lux Obscura.

Metropolis: Lux Obscura is a $7.99 match-3 style puzzle game which intersects with a Sin City-style noir comic book, featuring many many racy scenes. It sports the "Mature +17" ESRB rating for violence, blood, drug references, strong language, nudity, and sexual content.

Players using the Xbox to take screenshots or video clips using Microsoft's own Xbox Game DVR have been finding, however, that doing so can land you with hefty bans (thanks, K4rn4ge) on Xbox Live for "pornographic content."

Update, April 4 2018: Previously I stated that you could get banned even if you didn't share the screenshots publically, but it's unclear whether or not that is the case as I've been given conflicting reports. At the very least, Microsoft should disable screenshot sharing by default for Mature-rated games, rather than banning innocent people who were unaware of this oversight.

Metropolis: Lux Obscura raises the hypocrisy of Xbox Live's banning mechanisms, which are effectively entrapping people for using Xbox systems on Xbox games, without any real warning of rule violation. Microsoft is happy to sell you a pornographic game, but don't you dare take clips of it!

Microsoft has an extensive code of conduct list buried somewhere in its website, but it would seem far more logical to simply either block Game DVR on games that Microsoft finds embarrassing, or add a "NSFW" content blocker option filter across Xbox Live. At least warn people that using Xbox Live systems on Xbox-approved games can get you banned.

Metropolis features a non-linear noir plot, crammed with NSFW scenes. And Microsoft doesn't like it (despite selling it to you...)

Hilariously, Metropolis: Lux Obscura is available not only on Steam, but even the family-friendly Nintendo Switch, and neither of those platforms have been handing out bans for playing and sharing the game that I can find.

This issue has been raised before on other Xbox games with adult themes, so I doubt it'll be fixed or improved any time soon. But until it does, take this is a PSA word of caution: be careful when you take screenshots of Xbox games, Microsoft's banning algorithm is very prudish.

See Metropolis: Lux Obscura at Xbox Store