Microsoft crackdown disables emulators downloaded to Xbox consoles

It was nice while it lasted...

Enlarge / It was good whereas it lasted… (credit score: Aurich Lawson | Getty Photographs)

Again in 2020, we reported that emulator builders had been utilizing a gap within the Xbox Retailer’s app distribution system to get round Microsoft’s longstanding ban on emulators operating on Xbox consoles. This week, although, most of the emulators that had been distributed by way of that workaround have stopped working, the obvious victims of a brand new crackdown by Microsoft.

Xbox emulator makers and customers cannot say they weren’t warned. Within the “Gaming and Xbox” part of Microsoft’s official Retailer Insurance policies, part 10.13.10 clearly states that “merchandise that emulate a recreation system or recreation platform usually are not allowed on any machine household.”

Microsoft’s enforcement of this clause has traditionally centered on eradicating emulators printed as “non-public” UWP apps to the Xbox Retailer. These apps may very well be distributed to whitelisted customers by way of direct hyperlinks accessed on the system’s Edge browser, getting across the ordinary approval course of for a public retailer itemizing.

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