Game emulators are software that allow you to run games created for another platform on an entirely different platform. Such emulators have long been available for Windows, allowing PC gamers to indulge in a bit of nostalgia. They won’t be going away anytime soon but Microsoft isn’t going to host them on the Windows Store. The company has actually banned game emulators from the Windows Store.
The Windows Store policies have been updated to reflect that developers can no longer submit apps that emulate games on Windows. It has also removed Nesbox’s Universal Emulator app from the store which allowed users to play Nintendo and Sega ROMs. It even allowed Windows 10 users to play those games with an Xbox One controller.
Game emulators will continue to be available for download online even though Microsoft will no longer be hosting them on the Windows Store. It’s not like this move is going to make them incompatible with Windows PCs. That’s not what’s going to happen.
With this move, Microsoft has joined Apple in banning game emulators from its app store. Google remains the only company running an app store that hosts game emulators, they are plenty of them available on the Google Play Store for Android devices.
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