Players who opened the game that night found a suspension notice instead of a login. Some had been cheating, running mods or skin swaps. Most had bought a starter account and played it straight — and were banned because the registration region did not match their IP. The money inside those accounts does not come back.
What happened: two categories, two outcomes
According to Chinese outlet Gamersky on October 22, the bans fall into two groups. The first is accounts using cheats, mods or skin replacement, handled strictly with little chance of reinstatement. The second, larger group bought starter accounts and played normally; their accounts were suspended because the registration region and IP did not match, and some had spent significant money before losing access.
Horizon Walker is free to play on Steam, developed and published by Gentlemaniac, released August 24, 2025, tagged RPG and Simulation . Free entry, gacha revenue. That model means the account has no price. What sits inside it does.
The appeal process: one inbox and one re-review
The official route is to email cs8@gentlemaniac.com with top-up receipts, and if the first appeal is rejected, submit a second review request with the account UID and evidence of compliant use. The final result still rests with the developer.
The problem is not speed. It is burden of proof. Players must demonstrate they did not cheat and did not hop regions, while the evidence — IP logs, registration region, device fingerprints — sits entirely with the publisher.
Why "I paid" is not a defence
In a free-to-play terms of service, players buy a right to use a service, not ownership of an account. A receipt proves you paid. It does not prove your registration was compliant. Cross-region signup breaches most agreements, and what happens to money already paid is usually left blank.
Meanwhile: Genshin Impact 7.2 previews tonight at 21:00
The anime-game calendar kept moving. Genshin Impact's 7.2 preview programme airs at 21:00 on October 23, with the version titled 「At the onset of decay and destruction,」 in Chinese . Version 7.1 landed September 23, and its current banners opened October 8 with two five-star Cryo characters, Skirk and Escoffier .
Stable content, unstable accounts
On one timeline, versions, banners and events arrive on schedule — 7.1's snowball event opened October 19. On the other, a single email can erase two years of progress. The better the first timeline runs, the worse the second one looks.
Also this week: Star Rail holds at 4.6, Palworld's poll lands
Honkai: Star Rail updated to version 4.6 on September 28, and this week's official notices were merchandise rather than content — the usual mid-version lull, with a merch drop on October 20. Overseas, Palworld's 2026 global popularity poll published October 21 with Sekhmet taking first place .
Put the three headliners together and the anime-game routine is clear: steady versions, steady merchandise, steady discourse. What actually hurts players is rarely the content. It is the account.
Analysis: the starter-account market is publisher-made
Why do starter accounts exist? Because regions differ in launch dates, banner order, pricing and bonuses. A player who wants a specific limited character on day one finds that buying a pre-rolled account is the cheapest path. Demand is manufactured by version gaps and price gaps; supply is industrial; the risk lands on the buyer.
Region-locking has real reasons behind it. Cross-region arbitrage undermines regional pricing, and bulk-registered starter accounts often share a supply chain with scripting and cheating. Bundling those two problems together, however, means burning real paying customers. Account value is real money to a player and zero in an agreement.
The counter-argument: enforcement depends on evidence
Same notice, different offences
Anti-cheat and regional compliance are both legitimate. A free-to-play game that tolerates bulk cross-region accounts loses control of pricing and event design. The question is granularity: one wave of notices covering both confirmed cheating and "registration mismatch" treats different offences the same way.
For players, the practical advice is short: do not buy starter accounts; keep your usual device and region consistent; confirm your registration details before you spend. It sounds tired because it gets re-proven every few months.
FAQ: Horizon Walker bans and account safety
Which accounts were banned in Horizon Walker?
A: Two groups — accounts using cheats, mods or skin replacement, and accounts suspended for a registration region that did not match their IP, many of them bought starter accounts, some paid into (source: Gamersky, October 22, 2026).
How do you appeal a Horizon Walker ban?
A: Email cs8@gentlemaniac.com with receipts; if rejected, submit a second review request with your UID and evidence of compliant use. The developer makes the final decision.
When is the Genshin Impact 7.2 preview?
A: October 23, 2026 at 21:00, with the version titled 「At the onset of decay and destruction,」 in Chinese; version 7.1 launched September 23 (source: 17173, 4Gamer, and in-game official notices).
My take
I have no sympathy for cheaters. I do find it hard to tell someone who bought an account, paid into it, played for six months and was then asked to prove their innocence that they had it coming. The grey market was fed by regional pricing and server design. Handing the entire risk to the buyer does not balance the books.
The most expensive asset in a live-service anime game is not art or story. It is the time players put in. Every long-running operator should remember one thing: banning is allowed, but publish the criteria and the appeal deadline. Do not make players gamble two years on a single inbox. More version tracking and account-safety notes are on gghubs.com.
Have you or a friend ever been banned like this — did the appeal work, or did you eat it? Tell us what happened.