Microsoft’s Mobile Gaming Strategy Update
Microsoft has big designs for its mobile gaming strategy. The current objective is to roll out the capability of facilitating direct purchases and playing for games from the Xbox app on Android.
This week Microsoft’s Xbox president, Sarah Bond, took to Bluesky to share an update of sorts, noting that the much-awaited feature is ready to be released, but is currently tied up in legal proceedings.
More specifically, following a recent court ruling that Google must open up the Play Store to third parties, Microsoft is waiting on an appeal by Google regarding the decision. Once the appeal has been dealt with and the current ruling stands, the feature will be rolled out, according to what Bond explained this week.
“We are eager to launch and give more choice and flexibility to players,” she posted on the social media platform yesterday, hinting that the ball is very much in Google’s court, and if there is any delay, it falls on them.
Following these posts, Google fired back, with spokesperson Dan Jackson noting that, “Microsoft has always been able to offer their Android users the ability to play and purchase Xbox games directly from their app – they’ve simply chosen not to,” in a statement to The Verge.
“The Court’s order, and rush to force its implementation, threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience. Microsoft, like Epic, are ignoring these very real security concerns. We remain focused on supporting an ecosystem that works for everyone, not just two of the largest game companies,” he added.
Whether the Xbox app security concerns cited are legitimate remains to be seen, but it is clear that Google is wanting to keep as much of the transaction and interaction with users in its own ecosystem as possible.
“The decision fails to take into account that Android is an open platform and developers have always had many options in how to distribute their apps. In fact, most Android devices come preloaded with two or more app stores right out of the box. Developers have other options too, such as offering their apps directly to users from their websites,” argued Lee-Anne Mulholland, VP of Regulatory Affairs at Google, in October when the company lodged an appeal regarding the aforementioned court ruling.
“For example, Epic Games has made its popular Fortnite app available to Android users through the Samsung Galaxy Store, sideloading, and the Epic Games Store – all while Fortnite was not distributed through Google Play. These are options that developers have never been able to offer to their American users on iPhones,” she continued.
With both tech giants pointing fingers at this stage, an Xbox app feature that should be relatively simple and straightforward to implement is still not forthcoming, leaving players in the lurch.
When this all gets resolved, is unclear for now.
