Microsoft Nixes Emulator That Snuck Through The Xbox Store For Series X/S

If you're not a part of a small but passionate group of emulation enthusiasts, you may not be aware that Microsoft has long waged a battle to keep emulators off of its Xbox consoles and the Xbox Store. Going back all the way to 2020, one particular app and developer has played something of a cat and mouse game to keep its emulator accessible to Xbox Series X/S owners.

But this new effort, led by a third-party app developer going by the handle tunip3, exploits an apparent hole in the Xbox app distribution system to let users download a retail" version of RetroArch directly to the console's main interface, without using Developer Mode.

That method involves publishing a slight modification of the existing UWP version of RetroArch as a private" app, which doesn't need to be reviewed by Microsoft, tunip3 says. That version can then be downloaded directly (using a code) by anyone whose email is placed on a whitelist. Tunip3 will be accepting applications for that whitelist through Friday, according to a message posted on Discord.

After installing RetroArch, Xbox users can download core updates through the suite's own interface or access their own files through an app like My Files Explorer.

Which is where the whac-a-mole game began. Since 2020, Microsoft and the developer have gone back and forth. Microsoft delists the emulator from its store, tunip3 puts it back up again. Everyone understood, including tunip3, that this might lead to more definitive actions by Microsoft, including banning his developer account. Still, those who were able to get RetroArch before it got delisted had, and could use, the app.

As for why Microsoft is so anti-emulator, the answer to that is pretty obvious. The company is almost certainly looking to flatly avoid any conflict or legal action from the likes of Sony, Nintendo, and any other console-maker that RetroArch can emulate.

Now the other shoe has dropped. Microsoft has not only delisted the app yet again, but has also shut down the console's ability to run the emulator in its retail mode.

This isn't quite the same as Sony removing a useful feature from its PlayStation 3 consoles via a firmware update, given that Xbox's policy on this has been consistent all along. But it's also the case that there is nothing necessarily illegal concerning this emulator. In other words, Xbox owners have had the chance to get this app at various times which is not in and of itself illegal and now Microsoft has retroactively broken the app for owners of its consoles.

And as we've said a zillion times, there are perfectly legitimate uses of emulators like RetroArch.

Although emulation is often associated with piracy, it's also a legal way to play copies of games you already own on newer hardware with modern conveniences.

The timing has raised some suspicions about whether outside pressure may be forcing Microsoft to get more aggressive. Nintendo has historically been extremely anti-emulation, and while a version of the Dolphin emulator for GameCube and Wii has been available on Xbox Series X/S for a while, a special port specifically for the console went into beta only a few months ago. Nintendo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If you go look at Twitter for content under the #LetUsEmulate tag, you'll find plenty of it. While the emulation crowd is certainly a niche group, it's a vocal one as well.

Will that get Microsoft to reverse course? I doubt it. Instead, the company will almost certainly favor keeping any potential legal woes at bay instead of admitting it was blocking by policy a tool with completely legit uses. Good times.