Your Xbox One Can Be A Dev Kit, Microsoft Says Please Don’t Do It

Keep your hands to yourself, unless you have a Sandbox ID, says Microsoft.

Once upon a time, it was said that every Xbox One could be a dev kit, and lo, this turned out to be true. But, says Microsoft, there’s a catch. If you fiddle around in there without Microsoft’s express permission, you could end up with a damaged console.

The revelation comes courtesy of a YouTube tutorial video from GameTuts’ Corbman, who’s followed up with a second show with more information. Even Corbman doesn’t recommend going forward without the Sandbox ID, which is Microsoft’s way of letting you into its world. Without that ID, you risk putting your machine into a boot loop.

“There are many concerns such as privacy, security, stability etc.,” said an unnamed Xbox One developer on Reddit, “that need to be sorted out before we can allow anyone and everyone to simply sideload an app onto their box.” Microsoft itself has since weighed in with an official statement, advising its customers not to change their new consoles’ settings.

“Changing the settings in this menu is only intended for developers for Xbox One, and this alone does not turn the console into a development kit,” says Microsoft. “We strongly advise consumers against changing these settings as it could result in their Xbox One becoming unusable. Customers who have put their consoles into this developer setting can revert by restoring factory defaults under Settings / System, select Restore Factory Defaults.”

Source: Eurogamer