Starting next month, Xbox gamers can now buy games from their Android device using the Xbox App. The Xbox President, Sarah Bond, cited a recent U.S. court decision simply opening up the possibility of having more mobility and freedom with choices in Google’s mobile ecosystem as the reason for the move. She also stated that starting in November, users can purchase and play Xbox games natively inside the app, providing a much smoother experience on Android.
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This comes after a U.S. judge ordered that Google’s Play Store is an illegal monopoly. The result is that Google is forced to open the Play Store to third-party app stores, allowing developers to choose their in-app billing systems. These changes apply for three years, garnering support for even greater competition within the mobile app market. Google has nonetheless announced plans to appeal the decision.
Microsoft’s missing marketplace
Sarah Bond recently announced the new development after she confirmed her earlier statement during a Bloomberg Live fireside chat in May, where she outlined how Microsoft sees an Xbox mobile game store. According to her, the new store would be readily accessible by the user on all devices and in all countries without the restrictions usually imposed by closed app ecosystems. Therefore, the store’s rollout would occur first on the web to ensure users have access to the store, free from the penetration of traditional app store policies.
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Titles already on standby in the mobile market- such as Candy Crush Saga and Minecraft- will be available in the Xbox mobile store before other titles by other publishers follow. In effect, the store was meant to have launched last July, but updates had been miniscule aside from making a webpage until now.
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In effect, Microsoft’s initiative will change the mobile gaming market. This provides consumers with choices beyond the Google Play Store. With these revisions on the legal border, Microsoft has managed to drive further increases in the company’s presence in the sphere of mobile gaming toward an open environment for developers and players. The new capacity in purchasing shall be based on this through the Xbox app, and the gaming community will pay close attention as this shakes up the dynamics of competition in the mobile marketplace.
