Xbox One November SDK Leaked, Homebrew and Piracy Might Be Possible

A group called H4LT has uploaded the Xbox One Software Development Kit for the month of November and is allowing all those interested to get it and the associated documentation, which means that groups that are interested in creating software associated with the Microsoft home console now have a resource to do so.

All those interested can get them on their Twitter account, which is rather confusingly named notHALT.

The existence of the software package in the wild does not mean that those who get it can create their own apps or games and they simply run them on the home console, but in the future it might lead to the creation of a homebrew scene and probably to piracy.

It will be interesting to see whether any of the groups that opened the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 to outside programs will do the same for the current generation of hardware from Microsoft and Sony.

The two companies have been so far very careful to control their platforms as much as possible and will probably take action to shut down any attempts at modding or homebrew apps.

Microsoft has not yet reacted to the leak from H4LT but it will probably move to take the two packages, the Xbox One SDK and the documentation, down as quickly as possible.

Xbox One was advertised as a more open device

When the new home console from Microsoft was first announced, the company suggested that it would create an environment which would allow every user to create their own applications and to share them with the community after an approval process.

This could have led to a more open environment than for the Xbox 360, but plans for the concept were scrapped before launch.

The fact that the Xbox One SDK is now out in the open does not mean that homebrew and piracy will be enabled soon, as significant hurdles still need to be overcome.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft deals with the issues and their potential impact on sales of its current-gen device.

At the moment, the Xbox One is trailing behind the PlayStation 4 in terms of sales, although the gap between the two narrowed in November, mainly because of the aggressive price cuts implemented by the company and its promotional efforts.