Almost three years after the release of the Xbox Series X and S, Microsoft has decided to block the ability to run emulated games and user-programmed bootlegs on consoles. Until now it was enough to put the consoles in Retail mode (through a very simple procedure for experts) to install emulation software without problems and play with titles of the past for other consoles, such as PlayStation 2 and Wii. Now, if you try to start a software for this purpose such as RetroArch, the console will return an error message. To continue using retro gaming apps on Xbox, you will need to sign up for (and pay for) a Developer account.
According to sources inside Microsoft, rival Nintendo is behind the Xbox decision. Emulating consoles that are still protected by copyright, such as the Super NES or the Game Boy, would have created grounds for a lawsuit between the two companies. Nintendo has always fought emulation like piracy. In 2019 he sued the site RomUniverse for 1.2 million dollars, and obtained 10 million in compensation from the Canadian hacker Gary Bowser, who was selling modifications for the Switch, for which he also received 40 months in prison.