If all goes well, Microsoft is determined to launch its own mobile game store for Android and iOS platforms, although there is still no clear scenario in this regard for two reasons.
Firstly, because antitrust regulators will have to approve the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which would allow the company to have a sufficient catalog of mobile games to start with, including well-known titles like Call of Duty, as well as newer ones. titles that are coming along the way.
Note at this point that the acquisition is not well received by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and even Sony has also spoken out against this acquisition.
And second, because it has to deal with the policies of Google and Apple, especially in the case of the second. In this regard, Microsoft is battling with regulators in the US, Europe and the UK to change the rules of the game.
Seeking to generate competition in games for mobile platforms
In this sense, the company is waiting for the month of March of next year when the EU Digital Markets Law enters into force. why Google and Apple have to open up their mobile platforms to app stores run by third parties.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, told the Financial Times, in an interview ahead of the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, that:
We want to be able to deliver Xbox and content from both ourselves and our third-party partners to any screen someone wants to play on.
The case of Apple is the most striking as it is the most restrictive platform in terms of accommodating third parties, where services such as Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass itself have had to manage to bring game titles to iOS users. without going through the download through the App Store given the restrictions of this platform.
Microsoft even complained about being unable to offer iOS users a mobile application that brings them closer to the different game titles run in the cloud, to which Apple argues that its rules require that each game it offers be listed independently in the App Store.
Seeking that the titles can be on any type of screen
To deal with the situation classified as a duopoly, the manager places his trust in the “Digital Markets Law that is coming,” these two reasons being why the company still does not dare to define a possible moment in which the new mobile game store can become a reality.
It is already a matter of being able to overcome the obstacles and allow users to offer a first-rate mobile gaming experience, being able to offer both their own and third-party titles within their own platform, allowing users to play their favorite titles on any platform. where possible.
More information: Financial Times
Image Credit: Xbox (Microsoft)