Microsoft
has confirmed that it will be soon launching the Xbox
mobile game store
on Android and iOS platforms and it will include games like Candy Crush, Minecraft and more. At the Bloomberg Technology Summit,
Sarah Bond
, the president of Xbox confirmed that the company will be launching the Xbox mobile game store in July.
Microsoft has been working on
Google Play Store
and
Apple App Store
alternative for a while, but this is the first time that we have a date for Xbox mobile game stores’ launch.
Xbox game store won’t be a native app
In addition to the launch date for the Xbox game store, Bond has also highlighted that the store won’t be a native Android or iOS app. Instead, it will be a web-based app that will allow users to access the store via the web browser.
This will allow Microsoft to make the store accessible to all users worldwide and on all devices. Having said that, Microsoft could make the app store available natively on Android. However, things aren’t as simple as it looks for iOS.
Considering EU has forced Apple to allow third-party app stores in European regions, Microsoft has the option to launch the Xbox store in those regions. However, for other regions, the app store won’t be accessible. The web-based approach makes it possible for Microsoft to distribute it globally.
Game distribution hasn’t been clarified
While Bong shared a lot of information on the upcoming Xbox game store, there’s no information available on how the games will be distributed via the store. Whether the listing will download the apk file (in case of Android) or it will redirect to Play Store or App Store to download and install the games.
English (US) ·