XBOX has banned a fan-favourite app on its consoles, stopping players from playing older games.
Even if you already had the apps downloaded, they will no longer run on your consoles.
Older Halo games could be played through emulators.
Emulators which run older Xbox games, such as from Xbox One and Xbox 360, will no longer work.
These could be downloaded through the console’s browser, and then used to play your old Xbox games.
These emulators have been available on Xbox consoles for years, and can play games for a variety of different consoles.
However, last week Xbox players began to notice that their emulators would no longer launch on their consoles.
Instead, their consoles would display the message: “The game or app you’re trying to launch violates Microsoft Store policy and is not supported.”
Only those who own a developer’s licence, which costs around $20 (£20), will be able to continue using emulators on their consoles.
However, this has to be purchased separately from the console, which will not allow emulators from when they’re bought.
Some were blaming Nintendo for the new change in policy, as the rival company has long had a no-tolerance policy on emulation.
It was speculated that Nintendo was to cause legal trouble with Xbox as players could use emulators to play Nintendo games.
However, Microsoft denies this, instead claiming that the use of emulators has always been against Xbox’s terms of use.
Xbox’s statement provided to IGN reads: “The information currently circulating on Twitter is not accurate.
“Our actions are based on a long standing policy on content distributed to the Store to ensure alignment with our Microsoft Store Policies. Per 10.13.10.
“Products that emulate a game system or game platform are not allowed on any device family.”
Apparently, Microsoft is consistently reviewing content that does not align with Microsoft policies and is looking to correct them.
Emulators are a grey area legally, as they should only be used to play backups of games you already own.
Written by Oliver Brandt and Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
