Microsoft Suddenly Decides To Prevent Third Party Accessories From Working On Xbox

Welcome to the modern world, where the thing you bought that worked a particular way at the time you purchased it isn't actually fully owned you, which means the thing you bought could work totally differently tomorrow! This dystopia for consumers was perhaps most famously demonstrated to exist when Sony famously removed the ability to install other operating systems on its PlayStation 3 years and years ago, breaking functionality that some percentage of buyers specifically wanted at the time of purchase. Once that happened, a billion other examples came to be, especially in the technology space.

And now we've come somewhat full circle, not all the way back to Sony, but this time to Microsoft. It appears that the company recently updated its Xbox systems recently such that the consoles suddenly don't allow third part peripherals, which previously worked just fine.

The upcoming change was first reported last weekover onWindowsCentral. An Xbox One user reported getting an 0x82d60002 error code when trying to use her existing off-brand Xbox controller. A connected accessory is not authorized," a console warning read. Using unauthorized accessories compromises your gaming experience. For this reason, the unauthorized accessory will be blocked from use on 11/12/2023."

A similar warning was reported by accessory maker Brook Gaming, which specializes in fighting boards and steering wheel adapters. Recently, we have received player feedback concerning these products when used on Xbox consoles (the latest OS version 10.0.25398.2266 released on 10/16) during online gameplay," the companytweetedon October 20. We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause you."

So, what's happening here? Well, it could be any number of things. Occam's Razor would probably suggest that the least complicated answer is that Microsoft wants to make more money selling its own peripherals, exactly like Sony does by locking down peripherals on its PlayStation consoles. If you want something slightly more complicated than that, it could also be that Microsoft is doing this as a way to disallow third-party controllers and peripherals that use adapters which allow for cheating in online games. Microsoft even hinted as much in a statement it made after some backlash began.

A spokesperson for Microsoft confirmed the ban will soon go into effect and said it's for performance, security, and safety." Microsoft and other licensed Xbox hardware partners' accessories are designed and manufactured with quality standards for performance, security, and safety," they wrote in a statement. Unauthorized accessories can compromise the gaming experience on Xbox consoles (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.) Players may receive a pop-up warning that their accessory is unauthorized. Eventually, the unauthorized accessory will be blocked from use to preserve the console gaming experience."

There are a couple of problems here. First and foremost is what we discussed in the opening: third-party peripherals worked just fine a couple of weeks ago and now they suddenly don't. I'm sure Microsoft will point to some kind of language, vague or otherwise, buried in the terms of service. Regardless, the precedence was set that these peripherals would work and then Microsoft remotely took that away from consoles sitting in people's living rooms after the money was spent. Legal or not, it's certainly a pernicious and callous way to treat your customers.

And then there's what I assume are the unintended consequences, such as gaming tournaments that have found 3rd party peripherals quite useful.

Heyo [Phil Spencer, Xbox, Matt Booty] This is essentially a death sentence for local fighting game events that run on Xbox, much less, others that can only afford one arcade stick," fighting game content creator and expert Maximilian Doodtweetedon October 29 as the news spread. The Brookgamingfans converters are not cheat devices. They're a huge boon to the FGC. Please reconsider!"

I doubt Microsoft will reconsider anything at all. The company has seemed hell bent on moving in the direction of exerting more control over all things Xbox, from gobbling up studios and bringing longstanding franchises in as Microsoft exclusives to now locking down peripherals.

Customers that already paid for the hardware be damned, I suppose.