Rumor: Microsoft Plans To Launch Xbox Mobile Store As Soon As Next Year
Tom Warren has gone on record that Microsoft will be launching their mobile store very, very soon.
As shared on Reddit by Zombienerd300, Microsoft plans to launch their mobile store as early as next year. That would be rapid deployment on plans that they had hinted at very early on when they revealed plans to acquire Activision Blizzard King. In a manner of speaking, this was a long time coming.
Talk about this stems all the way back in2019, when we had reported on Jez Corden’s rumor that Microsoft would be launching a new cross development platform code named XDK. This platform would have worked with Apple, Android, and even Nintendo Switch. Of course, this one didn’t turn out to be true, but it certainly looked like it was what Microsoft wanted to do, even that long ago.
We got more tangible information of Microsoft’s mobile plans in the documents they submitted to the CMA in the course of their investigation of their Activision deal. That document said:
“Building on Activision Blizzard’s existing communities of gamers, Xbox will seek to scale the Xbox Store to mobile, attracting gamers to a new Xbox Mobile Platform.”
What made Microsoft confident enough to let these plans go public? The EU’s Digital Markets Act.
As explained in this Reuters briefer, the rules of the Digital Markets Act will require companies like Apple and Android, and also Amazon, to change the way their platforms work. As explicitly stated here:
“Apple and Google will be forced to provide space for third-party app stores on their respective iOS and Android devices.”
This change actually goes much further than Google’s current policies. While some consumers know that Google enabled users to ‘sideload’ apps, we should also acknowledge that many
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