Microsoft Prepping Xbox App Store for Android, iOS in 2024

pcmag.com:

Microsoft is planning to launch an Xbox-branded games store on Android and iOS next year.

Talking to the Financial Times(Opens in a new window), Xbox boss Phil Spencer said he believes the app ecosystem for both Android and iOS devices is set to be "opened up" in 2024, making an Xbox app store possible.

Spencer is confident Microsoft's app store will be allowed because of the Digital Markets Act (DMA)(Opens in a new window), which is an EU regulation aimed at making the digital economy fairer and more contestable. Companies who hold control over digital marketplaces such as app stores (so-called "gatekeepers"), will need to comply with the DMA by March 6, 2024.

Spencer explains:

"We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play. Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up."

Microsoft believes that the DMA will remove the barriers to entry that stop it from launching a mobile app store today. It means Apple and Google should be compelled to let Microsoft (and others) sell their games independently of the main app stores and then allow them to run natively on smartphones and tablets.

In Microsoft's case, it would allow the company to stream Xbox games to these devices and support Xbox Game Pass subscriptions directly on them. And if the Activision Blizzard acquisition is cleared, Microsoft would be able to offer all of King's mobile games, including popular titles such as Candy Crush, through the Xbox app store, too.

Of course, Microsoft's app store plans hinge on how hard the so-called "Big Tech" companies decide to fight