‘MS issues temporary bans for the use of emulators in Xbox Series retail mode’

Microsoft is reportedly issuing 15-day bans to users who install emulators from the Microsoft Store on the Xbox Series using a software glitch. Users who upload the emulators to the Microsoft Store would even be permabanned.

The method was released about two weeks ago. Users could give the hacker group UWeaPons Store $2 per month through Patreon and in return they received access to the method, which makes it possible to download an emulator from the Microsoft Store without any additional steps or adjustments. Here you could find emulators for the PS2, GameCube, Wii, Xbox 360 and Dreamcast. Perhaps Microsoft has more of a problem with users paying for it than with using an emulator itself.

@HikikomoriMedia, who closely follows emulation on consoles, announces on X that the 15-day bans should represent a warning from Microsoft. The Patreon has also been taken offline and the group behind the trick is said to have split up.

Running an emulator on the Xbox Series X and S is in principle not a big challenge. The console does support it, but must run in so-called developer mode. However, gaining access to that mode costs $20 per console and regular games cannot be run in that mode. So users have to constantly switch between retail and developer mode, depending on what they want to play. The aforementioned exploit made it possible to remain in retail mode and still run an emulator.

YouTube channel Modern Vintage Gamer made a video about the exploit when it came to light two weeks ago. Following the developments in this article, the title and description of this video have been adjusted.