Xbox Mobile Store in the Works at Microsoft to Take on Google, Apple: Report
Microsoft is reportedly building an Xbox mobile application store, that will allow users to directly download and install games on mobile devices. The "next-generation" Xbox mobile store was first hinted at by the company in February this year, while announcing a set of "Open App Store Principles" that would apply to the Microsoft Store on Windows, and the yet-to-be-released marketplace for games. The principles were set up as part of a process of seeking regulatory approvals for Microsoft's proposed $69 billion (roughly Rs. 5,67,600 crore) worth acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a deal which is currently under investigation by UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and EU's Antitrust regulators.
In its reply filing to the UK's CMA asking Microsoft for context on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company has noted wanting to help build out its mobile gaming presence as its motivation to acquire the Call of Duty developer. Microsoft states in the filing that it hopes to build on Activision Blizzard's "existing communities of gamers", which would allow them to take on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store by offering "well-known and popular content", that would nudge users to "try something new". "Xbox will seek to scale the Xbox Store to mobile, attracting gamers to a new Xbox Mobile Platform", added Microsoft in the reply filing.
Through the filing, Microsoft has made it clear that it hopes to take on Google and Apple, in terms of offering a mobile gaming marketplace and platform. However, with Apple's policies blocking third-party app stores on iOS, Microsoft's vision to take on Apple might seem a little far-fetched, at least as things stand.
Microsoft states that the Activision Blizzard
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