Apple and Google have stepped up the distribution of mobile apps through their own app stores. Google’s Android allows alternative app stores, but it fails to compete significantly with the Play Store. Microsoft is now preparing to build its own mobile game store to break this duopoly and is relying on regulation to do so.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, said the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which comes into force in March 2024, will help the company reach its mobile app store goals. Said helpful. DMA allows companies to load their app stores on iPhone and Android phones by asking Apple and Google to open up their systems.
“We want to bring content from both Xbox and our third-party partners to any screen that someone wants to play on,” Spencer told the FT.
“We can’t do that with mobile devices today, but we want to build for the world these devices seem to open up to.”
Microsoft has had issues with Apple over the Cloud Gaming app. iPhone makers required users to download each game playable through Microsoft’s cloud services (including Fortnite). So Microsoft now asks people to sign in via the Safari browser and follow the instructions, which is not as easy as downloading an app from the App Store.
Given Apple’s restrictions on downloads and in-app purchases, it’s not unusual for Microsoft to start building its own game store.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond to inquiries about Microsoft’s ambition to build an alternative app store.
Over the past five years, Microsoft has acquired a number of game studios, including Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Bethesda owner Zenimax Media, and most recently Activision Blizzard. The company’s latest acquisition lets it tap into the mobile market through a separate store that carries titles and upcoming releases like Call of Duty Mobile and Candy Crush Saga. The game makes a lot of money. So controlling distribution through its own store gives Microsoft an edge.
The biggest challenge facing Microsoft is completing a deal with Activision Blizzard as US, UK and EU regulators scrutinize the merger. Last month, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was launching an antitrust investigation into the deal because it could hurt gamers in the country with “higher prices, less choice”. Microsoft has tried to placate regulators by saying it is ready to offer a long-term commitment to make popular games like Call of Duty available on competitors’ platforms. .
The tech giant recently signed a 10-year deal to bring Xbox games to Nintendo consoles. Additionally, Microsoft has also agreed to provide these games to his Nvidia, Boosteroid, and Ubitus cloud gaming services.
