Microsoft Nixes Emulator That Snuck Through The Xbox Store For Series X/S
from the blame-the-tools dept
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.
Filed Under: emulator, retroarch, xbox store
Companies: microsoft
Comments on “Microsoft Nixes Emulator That Snuck Through The Xbox Store For Series X/S”
OK, so while it sucks for people who weren’t doing such things, it can hardly be surprising that MS took further steps to block an app when the developer is literally using security exploits to get it into the store after being blocked.Even if he has no nefarious intent, he’s clearly paving the way for people with bad intentions to follow him if nothing is done to patch the holes.
Unless I’m mistaken, people can still use developer mode if they still with to use the console to emulate, it’s just slightly more work to set that up and you can’t game as normal with standard XBox games while in dev mode (for obvious reasons), though if I understand correctly you can easily switch between modes. More cumbersome than the previous situation, but it seems perfectly understandable even if you wave away the idea of legal threats from others.
“This isn’t quite the same as Sony removing a useful feature from its PlayStation 3 consoles via a firmware update”
It’s nothing like the same, really. OtherOS wasn’t just a cool feature, it was an advertised capability of the console which led to some organisations buying hundreds or even thousands of PS3 specifically to access it. Since other features required a more up to date firmware, removing the feature meant losing the advertised feature permanently.
I can’t think of any marketing that MS made to advertise any emulation outside of its backward compatibility program, and as mentioned it should be possible to regain emulators through the developer mode, so it’s nothing like the same situation unless it’s the usual Sony fanboy false equivalence based on superficial similarities.
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Pretty much all of this.
MS have had a longstanding approach to emulators of “what happens in dev mode stays in dev mode”, where you can do all the emulation you like, and we don’t talk about it. Backdooring it onto the retail store in violation of clearly stated official policies was always going to end badly. Potentially with knockon effects for all users.
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I can understand people wanting to run emulators, but it’s also pretty clear why MS want to keep a sandboxed console environment relatively free from the danger of people modding/hacking/cheating. Saying “if you want to run an emulator, use dev mode or a PC” doesn’t seem particularly out of order. Especially when the person at the centre of this is deliberately bypassing the protections already in place.
It sucks for people who were using a previously downloaded emulator, but again, there’s options available. There’s a constant battle between security and convenience, and sometimes the latter loses.
While I am on the side of letting people emulate their retro games I kinda have to side wih MS on this one. Even though the developer had no malicious intent, they still are showing it can be done and others might be so charitable plus letting Retroarch be playable on their consoles is pretty much flashing a neon sign saying “SUE US!!”
Besides from what I’m reading it’s still playable in Dev Mode which while a bit cumbersome is not the same as removing an advertised feature and permanently breaking it for everyone else.
yeah i wouldn’t want some jackhole to set up a bootleg endcap in my walmart either
Does NO one here know about Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corp.?!
Seriously.
It feels like Timothy wants to have his cake and eat it too in this article. Pointing out Xbox could land in hot legal water with Sony and Nintendo and other folks, especially as the emulator uses a loophole in their app distribution system to let people find the thing on the store and run the emu on their retail mode consoles. But then, still giving them flak for taking the sketchily-inserted retail version of the emu down, and trying to compare the situation to when Sony yanked the marketed OtherOS feature out of the PS3? Like, what?
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Is, “I get it, but it still sucks,” a terribly difficult concept to grasp?
Anyone remember the good old days when game console makers had absolutely no say over what could be sold for their systems?