This week, it has been discovered that Microsoft has been disabling the dev mode feature for users. The action seems to stem from a lack of apps being published using the feature. For those unfamiliar with dev mode, the feature allowed for people to run emulators through the console and homebrew. The benefit of the feature being offered through Microsoft was that there was no legal action. Since it was not considered jailbreaking due to it being offered by the company. Which gave players the freedom to play their games in whatever way they wanted, given they had the know-how. The service also gave people the opportunity to publish applications for Xbox, which was an enticing offer to those who wanted to showcase their skills and land a job in the field.
Dev Mode extinction and Microsoft repeating history?
However, with Microsoft removing their stamp of approval and revoking the feature, everyone has the same question in mind: is history repeating itself? For context, a situation similar to this one occurred a while back with Sony when they banned the use of Linux on PlayStation. The result of that was the hacking community going all out to bring jailbreaking back to the system. They succeeded in bringing back home emulating and homebrewing, however, the lack of official oversight led to piracy becoming rampant.
Microsoft has long since been spared from the hacking community ever since the 360 when they initially released dev mode. Though with the recent removal of the feature from their systems, many in the gaming community believe that another war with the hacking community may be on the horizon. A lot has changed since the era of the PS3 and the Xbox 360, both in technology and in tactics used to promote or block home emulating so the outcome of the battle, if there is one, is sure to be interesting. We should expect to hear further developments as the days pass and more become aware of this sudden change.
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