Microsoft apologizes for disabling Xbox Dev Accounts, refutes anti-emulator conspiracy

Following a number of Xbox users who use developer accounts to load PS1, PS2, GameCube and Wii emulators on their Xbox consoles receiving letters telling them their accounts have been disabled, there has been a conspiracy theory going around that Microsoft is clamping down on the practice.

The letter read:

“We have disabled the Windows and Xbox enrollment in your Microsoft Partner Center account because it did not have an active presence in the Store. For reference, see the Developer Code of Conduct which says that an active presence in the Store must be maintained.”

Xbox emulator players complained as below:

sure but lets call this what it is. no heads up or grace period was given.

— MVG (@ModernVintageG) January 5, 2022

Today Microsoft clarified that the developer accounts have been deleted in error as part of their normal inactive account clean-up process, with  Jason Ronald, Director of PM at Xbox, saying:

As part of a regularly scheduled maintenance to clean up inactive accounts, a number of Partner Center accounts used to enable Developer Mode on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles were inadvertently deactivated.

— Jason Ronald (@jronald) January 5, 2022

If your account was accidentally deactivated and you would like to restore access sooner, feel free to contact [email protected]. We apologize for the inconvenience and we are working to remedy this as quickly as possible and thanks for your patience.

— Jason Ronald (@jronald) January 5, 2022

As the tweet notes, if an account you are still using has been deleted, you should contact [email protected] to hopefully have it restored.