Microsoft Is Building an Xbox App Store

howtogeek.com:

With both Apple and Google relaxing their grip on their respective platforms, the field is more open for other companies to put out their own app stores on smartphones. The most common theme, of course, is gaming. And now, Microsoft is leading the charge with an Xbox app store.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will launch an Xbox mobile gaming store in July. It will start out as a web-based experience before branching out into a set of true mobile app stores. Xbox President Sarah Bond revealed the plan at the Bloomberg Technology Summit, adding that "this web-based store is the first step in our journey to building a trusted app store with its roots in gaming."

Initially, the store will focus on Microsoft's own mobile games, including popular titles like Candy Crush and Minecraft. The company aims to create a unified gaming experience, allowing players to access their library, identity, and rewards across different devices. This presumably means that game data will be synced to other products within the Xbox ecosystem, including Xbox consoles as well as PCs.

While games will be a central part of the store, Microsoft also envisions it as a broader platform, offering deals on in-game items and opportunities to discover new games. Although the store will start as web-only, Microsoft does hint at extending it beyond the web, potentially launching a dedicated smartphone app store to rival those of Google and Apple. (Microsoft hasn't clarified how the web-based Xbox mobile game store will work, though it could distribute APKs for Android devices or drive customers toward Game Pass streaming.)

The Xbox mobile store launch aligns with Microsoft's anticipation of increased openness in mobile app stores, although the company isn't waiting for regulatory changes to take effect. It remains to be seen how Microsoft will position its web-based store as an alternative to existing mobile games on rival platforms. An initial version of this game store will be landing in July