Unfortunately, Retail Mode will no longer allow you to run emulators on the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S.

We previously reported that some clever developers had managed to get emulators downloaded from the Microsoft Store, so with the UWeaPons Store, it was easy to run emulators in UWP format without switching to the not-free Developer Mode. The developers put their solution behind a Patreon paywall, and perhaps that’s why the Redmond-based tech giant finally took action against them…

Microsoft shut down the party, leaving Retail Mode without emulators on both Xbox Series consoles. The company banned the consoles of the developers behind the UWeaPons Store, closing the loophole for emulator access. Unfortunately, users are also at risk: if Microsoft detects that someone is still using the UWeaPons Store, it will issue a fifteen-day suspension to the affected users. For this reason, emulators installed in traditional mode are recommended to be uninstalled.

So the Xbox Series S, which was great for emulation, has lost one of its good uses because the smaller console was great for running older console generation titles, so you have to rely on Developer mode, which is not a free solution (and who knows when Microsoft will close that loophole), but we have one question. Suppose we were emulating a platform whose manufacturer and even developers are no longer on the market, and we were playing games that have never been released elsewhere. Why would emulating them be problematic? (Because yes, there are examples of this case.)

Sadly, the emulation of older games seems to be kicked out the door by every console manufacturer with both feet. Nintendo is primarily to blame for this, and what they’re making available on Nintendo Switch Online is just a tiny fraction of the gaming industry’s past. The Wii U/Wii Virtual Console is defunct…

Source: GBATemp