Microsoft’s Edge extension store appears to host illegal copies of several iconic games, including Mario Kart 64, Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Pac Man, Tetris, Cut the rope, and even the great success of Microsoft Minecraft. The developers listed in the titles are not Microsoft, Nintendo or any other recognizable game developer, which means that they are almost certainly not official copies of the games.
We found 35 listings in 10 different “developers” with names like “GamePro Inc,” “Gamelands,” “StayReal” and “Kday”, including a series of duplicate games. Many listings, even from different developers, had very similar descriptions, indicating that they could be from the same source.
Here are screenshots of just a few of the games we found:
Strangely, Microsoft in itself appeared to promote browser extensions in what appears to be a tweet now deleted from @MSEdgeDev Account, which we saw via ResetEra.
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Image: KoolAid on ResetEra
We did not see this alleged tweet ourselves, and it is not currently in the @MSEdgeDev account. But a brave soul on Twitter, Jordan Chase, said that installed the Mario Kart 64 extension on Twitter – and he said this in response to a tweet now deleted from @MSEdgeDev.
In his tweet, Chase said that the Mario Kart 64 extension downloads a game ROM. Although emulators are generally legal and some sites (such as the Internet Archive) host abandonware that you can play in a browser, it is extremely unlikely that Nintendo, which is known for cracking down on sites hosting ROMs and pirated content, will allow people to download copies of your most loved games on free browser extensions.
THE Tetris extension also appears to be a clone of the famous puzzle game, although it did not download a ROM, according to Chase. He also said he installed the Pac Man extension and “looks like you’re using direct resources from the original game”. I didn’t install the games in case they were doing something nefarious, and I recommend not putting them on your machine.
Some of the games we found have reviews that date back to October, indicating that they have been going undetected in the Microsoft catalog for some time. It is not clear why they have been available for so long.
Many listings try to avoid problems with questionable disclaimers, recognizing that the listings are not affiliated with the original games. Here’s one for the list of Mario Kart 64, for example:
IMPORTANT: This emulator is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo. All graphics, games and other types of multimedia are the property of their respective owners and authors. This game is for ALL Mario fans!
Microsoft and Nintendo count The Verge they are examining the situation.