Rumor: Xbox blocking emulators in retail mode due to legal issues with Nintendo
Original (4/7): Yesterday, Microsoft made it so that emulators will no longer run on Xbox Series X | S consoles in retail mode. The reason for that apparently comes down to Nintendo.
With the latest Xbox console, emulating titles from past consoles has been made easier than ever. That includes emulation of past Nintendo platforms – something that the Big N wouldn’t be happy about. The ban prevents normal Xbox consoles (sold to consumers) from running such tools.
Based on an email provided by Microsoft Azure’s Alyanna McKenna that was originally written by the Xbox QA team, a big reason for the change “is related to legal issues with Nintendo.” The message goes on to say that “emulating itself is not illegal,” but “it can be used to play games from consoles that are still under copyright protection without permission, which can create issues with Nintendo and its affiliates.” Security concerns were cited as a secondary issue.
The full email reads:
“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 related to legal issues with Nintendo. While emulating itself is not illegal, it can be used to play games from consoles that are still under copyright protection without permission, which can create issues with Nintendo and its affiliates.
Additionally, we take security seriously, and some emulators require permissions beyond what is typical for an app. This could create a potential security risk, as these permissions can be exploited by bad actors to gain access to sensitive information. For these reasons, we have made the decision to ban emulators on the Xbox store front. However, we understand that many users have dev mode enabled to run legal emulation. We don’t seek to remove this ability, as it doesn’t grant access to the retail components of the system and is considered safe. Unlike retail emulators, dev mode is limited to certain functionalities and doesn’t have system read-write functionality.
That said, we are still exploring ways to allow safe and legal emulation on Xbox. We are in talks with legitimate emulator developers to bring their software onto our platform while ensuring that all copyright laws and security protocols are followed. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we work through this issue. Our goal is to provide a safe and enjoyable gaming experience for everyone, and we are committed to finding a solution that meets those goals. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.”
Update (9/9): An official Microsoft statement now says that Nintendo has nothing to do with the situation. You can read the full response below.
“The information currently circulating on Twitter is not accurate. Our actions are based on a long standing policy on content distributed to the Store to ensure alignment with our Microsoft Store Polices. Per 10.13.10, Products that emulate a game system or game platform are not allowed on any device family.”
