Xbox Series X best feature officially returns... behind a paywall

Xbox Series X owners will once again have access to retro game emulators on their console, but at a cost.

Recently, it was discovered Xbox Series X consoles were perfect for old-school emulation. By downloading applications from the Microsoft Store, players could run a variety of emulators, and play loads of retro games on their TV/monitor with their console alone.

Check out the trailer for the latest Xbox exclusive game, Starfield, below.

This allowed the Xbox to play Nintendo, PlayStation and Sega exclusive games, provided you were tech savvy enough to get them working, with all the bells and whistles emulation adds, like better resolution and framerate.

While this was a highly celebrated feature, Microsoft went ahead and shut it down, which was expected, but still disappointing. All hope wasn’t entirely lost though, as users could pay a fee to unlock developer moment, which was certainly an option but not one worth a lot of people’s time and money.

Luckily, a work-around has been discovered, but if you want to know what it is, it’s going to cost you… The trick was discovered by UWeaPons Store, and was reported by Modern Vintage Gamer on YouTube. After some thorough testing by those who’ve tried it, the trick is confirmed to work, provided you’re willing to pay to learn it.

The developers will happily share the secret of Xbox emulation for the low, low price of $2 on Patreon, which is a pretty sweet deal for almost unlimited games on one console. The reason the secret is behind the lock and key (a paywall) is that Microsoft will likely want to know what the work-around is so they can close it again.

Unfortunately, it’s more than likely to get leaked at some point, either by someone who’s paid the $2 or just someone who’s figured it out for themselves. It’s also entirely possible the Microsoft team will work it out and shut it down in a flash.

In the meantime though, Xbox Series X owners can enjoy an enormously extended library of games for practically nothing, which is well-worth it, especially if you’re into the history of games or fancy replaying titles from your childhood.