Microsoft Xbox is suspending players temporarily for using emulators in retail mode on Xbox One and Series consoles.
This comes from a VGC article, who included an initial Twitter post from HikikomoriMedia who reports on emulation on consoles, stating that Microsoft is handing out 15-day bans for anyone who has been running emulators in retail mode. Before all of this, it was possible to download emulators in retail mode directly from the Microsoft store on the Xbox console, but Microsoft patched this later on. The only way to get emulators was to have your Xbox set to developer mode which is offered for $20.
The main difference between Retail mode and Developer mode, according to Xbox, is that in Retail mode, the console is in its normal state, while in developer mode, you can test apps and software, but can’t play any retail games or use the Microsoft store.
The group, UWeaPons Store found an alternative way for this method to work in retail mode, but to use their method, you would need to subscribe to their Patreon. It was not until this past week, Microsoft started to hand out 15-day suspensions for anyone who used this method, effectively killing the method, and making developer mode the only way to get access to emulators on a hardware level.
The post made by Hikikomori Media also included a Discord screenshot of an announcement from the developers of the previous method, in which they state, “RETAIL MODE IS DEAD. We are halting any and all retail emulation…A significant amount of users have been receiving 15-day suspensions as a warning shot from Xbox.” They strongly recommend users to stop using and delete any and all emulators in retail mode. VGC went into their Dsicord and confirmed this announcement as well, saying in their article, “GoldenSky also warns that users who have been re-uploaded emulators to retail mode are getting outright console bans, rather than 15-day suspensions.” VGC includes a statement made by GoldenSky saying that it’s not worth it to get console banned over this and to just use dev mode.
Some understood why Microsoft was in the right to take this down, since there was a possibility of legal trouble, with many comparing it to Dolphin emulator getting released on Steam which was blocked by Nintendo. Others criticized the devs of the retail method for charging a fee for this method in the first place, and should just stay with developer mode.