Microsoft has updated its Windows Store policies to ban developers from submitting game system emulators to any of its platforms. While the policies were initially published at the end of last month, the company began taking action this week, delisting the popular Universal Emulator from the store.
The latter was one of the more popular emulators on the Windows Store, with support for NES, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and GameBoy Color/Advanced games using an Xbox One controller.
The app had been previously banned from Xbox One consoles just a few days after receiving approval. Back then Microsoft said that third party apps that are targeted to Xbox One and are primarily gaming experiences must be approved through the ID@Xbox program. However, with the policy update, submitting console emulators through the ID@Xbox program is now out of the question.
While console emulators can no longer be downloaded from the Windows Store, you can still run them on Windows if they're available to download elsewhere. Universal Emulator in particular is also available in a browser based version that's independent from app stores and even works on the Xbox One.
With this Microsoft joint Apple in clocking console emulators from their respective app stores, leaving Google as the only mobile app store still supporting game emulator apps.