So, there is bad news for players who use Emulators on their Xbox Consoles. Recently, we observed a wave of Twitter posts wherein players addressed that they are unable to access emulators on their respective Xbox Console. After launching an Emulator, they received a notification stating – “the game or app you’re trying to launch violates Microsoft Store policy and is not supported.” So, is this true that Emulators are banned on Xbox? Here’s everything you should know about it.
Microsoft Bans Emulators on Xbox – Here’s Why
Although there are no official announcement made from Microsoft, the sources for this news seems legit. Alyanna McKenna, an employee in Microsoft’s Azure, recently posted something that adds some weight to this rumor. She basically copy-pasted all the content sent to her via e-mail by her friend who works in Xbox QA Team. For your reference, we have interlinked the Tweet below:
I’ll copy and paste my email from a friend at the Xbox QA team :
Hi there,
Thanks for getting in touch with us about the recent ban on emulators on the Xbox store front. We appreciate your interest and concerns.
To answer your questions, the primary reason for the ban is…
— Alyanna McKenna (@AlyannaMcKenna) April 6, 2023
The main reason why Emulators got banned on Xbox is due to some legal issues with Nintendo. On the contrary, Microsoft also acknowledges the fact that Emulation isn’t illegal. However, one should not forget that games being emulated are under copyright protection. Which surely is a matter of concern for Nintendo. Hence, it can cause legal disputes between the two Gaming Giants.
Further, Microsoft is also concerned about the security of the users. Some of the retail Emulators on the platform demand unnecessary permissions. Giving 3rd Party software access to sensitive information can cause some real trouble. This makes it pretty obvious why Emulators got banned on Xbox.
In the midst of all the chaos, players with Dev Mode enabled can still enjoy Emulation. Dev Mode restricts the system to access sensitive information and hence, it is considered safe. Moreover, Microsoft also says that they are in talks with Emulator Developers. Hopefully, this interaction will eventually bring legitimate Emulators to Xbox.
So yeah, as of now, all the retail Emulators are banned on Xbox. While you are here, make sure to check out our other News Articles for more such content, right here on Gamer Tweak.