Epstein Files Reveal an Online Gaming Ban

Emails show he was permanently banned from Xbox Live during sex offender purge
Posted Feb 2, 2026 8:01 AM CST
Epstein Files Reveal an Online Gaming Ban
A document included in the Department of Justice release of Jeffrey Epstein files shows the report when Epstein was taken into custody on July 6, 2019.   (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Jeffrey Epstein may have been an online gamer—until his abuse got him banned. Among the latest batch of Epstein-related documents unsealed Friday is a 2013 email from Microsoft informing him that an Xbox Live account tied to his personal email address had been permanently shut down. The initial notice, sent during the Xbox 360/Xbox One era, says the account was booted for "harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players," behavior Microsoft deemed "severe, repeated, and/or excessive," per Forbes. However, a second email reveals the ban was related to Epstein's status as a registered sex offender.

Microsoft agreed to remove sex offenders from its online platforms in April 2012, in line with a New York initiative. "This action is based on the New York Attorney General's partnership with Microsoft and other online gaming companies to remove New York-registered sex offenders from online gaming services to minimize the risk to others, particularly children," the email reads, per Mashable.

Epstein was already a registered sex offender when he is believed to have joined Xbox Live in October 2012, reports the Verge, so it's unclear why it took more than a year for the account to be taken down. It's also not clear whether Epstein used the Xbox Live account himself. About seven months after the ban notice, he asked his executive assistant, "do we have an xbox 360 kinect?" The gamer handle involved isn't mentioned in the documents.

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