Microsoft’s Edge extensions store appears to be hosting pirated copies of a number of iconic games, including Mario Kart 64 Super Mario Bros. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Pac-Man Tetris Cut the rope and even the big hit from Microsoft MinecraftThe developers listed on 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 from 10 different “developers” with names like “GamePro Inc”, “Gamelands”, “StayReal” and “Kday”, including some duplicate games. Many entries, even from different developers, had very similar descriptions indicating that they may have come from the same source.
Here are screenshots of just some of the games we found:
Oddly enough, Microsoft self seemed to promote the browser extensions in what appears to be a now-deleted tweet from the @ MSEdgeDev account, which we saw through ResetEra.
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Image: KoolAid on ResetEra
We have not seen this alleged tweet ourselves and it is not currently listed on the @ MSEdgeDev account. But a brave soul on Twitter, Jordan Chase, he said installed it Mario Kart 64 extension on Twitter – and he said that in a response to a now-deleted tweet from @MSEdgeDev.
In his tweet, Chase said that the Mario Kart 64 extension downloads a ROM of the game. While emulators are generally legal, and some sites (such as Internet Archive) contain abandoned software that you can play in a browser, Nintendo, which is known for cracking down on sites hosting ROMs and illegal content, is extremely unlikely to be lets people download copies of his most loved games through free browser extensions.
The Tetris extension also seems to be a clone of the famous puzzle game although it didn’t download ROM, according to ChaseHe also said he installed it Pac-Man extension, and it “appears to be using resources directly from the original game.” I didn’t install the games myself in case they were doing something outrageous, and I don’t recommend putting them on your computer.
Some of the games we found have reviews dating back to October, indicating that they have been in the Microsoft catalog unnoticed for quite some time. It is unclear why they have been available for so long.
Many offers try to get around issues with questionable disclaimers that recognize that the offers are not tied to the original games. Here’s one for the offer for that Mario Kart 64, for example:
IMPORTANT: This emulator is not affiliated with Nintendo and is not endorsed by Nintendo. All images, games and other multimedia are copyrighted by their respective owners and authors. This game is for ALL Mario fans!
Microsoft and Nintendo tell The edge they investigate the situation.