Xbox starts disabling development mode accounts for emulation

Thanks to the policies adopted by Microsoft, the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X can easily emulate the likes of the Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation 1. The company promises that any of its Series S and Series X devices can become a full-fledged developer kit, and all you need to do is pay Microsoft a $20 fee to get a developer account. Developers can then load and test their own code on the console, which opens the door for regular users to install emulators on their consoles, masquerading as developers. However, Microsoft has now begun disabling developer accounts used specifically for emulation, saying they were disabled because they were not "active in the store."

To be clear, Microsoft has always been allowed to do this under the publishing terms in its Developer Code of Conduct. It's no secret that developer accounts that are essentially abused in this way are a gray area at best, and it's no surprise that companies want to take action. That being said, users were not warned in advance that their accounts would be disabled, which caught many off guard and some believed they were entitled to a refund.

If you are a legitimate developer working on a game to be released on the Xbox Store that has your account disabled, it's unclear what your next steps should be. Presumably, you need to contact Microsoft at the given email address and argue why you need a developer account.

Thankfully, developer mode is no longer the only way to access emulators, there are other ways to access them. You can now run a number of different emulators in retail mode as well, including RetroArch and DuckStation. No need for whitelisting either. Unfortunately, users who paid the $20 fee specifically to access the emulation may have their account access revoked, but at least there is an alternative now, which means the door to emulation isn't completely closed.

If you've recently created a Developer Mode account specifically for simulation, Microsoft will most likely let you keep your account for a while until it's clear that you don't intend to publish anything on the Xbox Store.

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