Microsoft’s games department is working hard on its own app store in order to market mobile games on Android itself – without the Google Play Store. Xbox boss Phil Spencer said this at a meeting in Brazil on November 30, 2023, like Bloomberg reported.
In an almost simultaneous one Interview with Windows Central Spencer captured some statements made recently by a fellow manager in a conversation with analysts. Specifically: Tim Stuart, who is responsible for finance at Xbox, said that Microsoft wanted to open the Xbox Game Pass game subscription on Playstation and Nintendo.
Even if Microsoft would like to do this, it could not work without the consent of Sony and Nintendo for the time being. Spencer has now officially said that there are no such plans.
Having your own store on Android isn’t a problem, at least technically, using sideloading – even if it’s probably not that easy to convince users to install it. Microsoft could offer a few simple paths here via Windows and the Edge browser.
Spencer also hinted at a mobile store on iOS devices, according to Bloomberg. Again, there is no practical sideloading, but the EU could soon allow other stores through changed regulations.
Will Microsoft stay in the Google Play Store?
Speaking to Windows Central, Spencer said that the store for Android is being worked on intensively with partners and that the release could not take place in a few years, but rather soon. Microsoft may be using some of Activision Blizzard’s early work.
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The recently purchased publisher has many successful mobile games on offer, including Call of Duty Warzone, Warcraft Rumble and Candy Crush Saga. Your own store could therefore be stocked with top-class products right from the start. It will be exciting to see whether these titles will be removed from the Google Play Store.