Microsoft is bricking the Xbox One consoles of some beta testers who have leaked Gears of War Ultimate footage.

A clip of the game was shared on XboxDVR (since removed), a site which gathers clips recorded via the Xbox One's built-in capture software.

It spread from there, was last spotted on All Games Beta, and is embedded below.

۞ by AGB-Media

A Spanish beta tester also leaked footage to YouTube (since removed), and claimed the new version runs at 60 frames per second.

An email (also published by AGB) from a company called Global Beta Test Network to its employees outlined the reason why Xbox Ones were being locked.

It seems in one instance, gameplay clips have been shared via Snapchat with people outside the company, and those people put them on the net.

The email also addresses the leak made through XboxDVR.

“The nature of the leak having had occurred through Xbox One, actually also went against the Microsoft EULA, which is agreed upon when creating an Xbox Live account, or any other type of Microsoft account,” the email reads.

“This being said, as per that agreement with the testers in fault, Microsoft also permanently disabled their Xbox Live accounts (as well as other suspected accounts present on their Xbox One kits) and temporarily blocked all of their Xbox One privileges – meaning that for a period of time which Microsoft decides on depending on the severity of the offense, their Xbox One is entirely unusable.

“The reason behind the Non-Disclosure Agreement is not only to protect our clients and our program, but also our community, and to make each and every single one of you aware of the severity of revealing confidential information which you’re entrusted with.

“One screenshot, message or even conversation shared with someone else can easily snowball into a situation that goes out of control, and not only penalize the offender as well as anyone else directly involved, but sometimes far beyond that.

“In certain cases, there were consequences which had affected people which had no malicious intentions but ended up entwined within the legal case - we’re fully aware that this also targeted very faithful, hard workers who had been with us from the start, and this situation crippled the entire community. We do not want to go that way ever again and are constantly in search of better solutions to single out perpetrators before too much is at risk.”

Last month the existence of Gears of War Ultimate was confirmed by a number of sources, who claimed that the multiplayer runs at 60 frames per second, and that Brink and Dirty Bomb developer Splash Damage is working on it.