Microsoft could be digging its gaming feet even deeper into rival platforms soon beyond simple web apps that it already has. That's because, Microsoft Xbox head Phil Spencer recently said in an interview that the company is getting ready to launch a new app store for games on iOS and Android, as soon as 2024 if their acquisition of Activision Blizzard is cleared.

This news comes as Microsoft faces scrutiny from rivals like Sony, and also government entities, for its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and as other tech giants like Apple and Google are being pressured by regulators to open up their app stores to promote better competition. This new app store isn't technically possible right now since Apple doesn't allow alternative app stores on iOS or iPadOS, but Microsoft is already thinking ahead for the moment when this becomes a reality, so they can be ahead of the competition. At the same time, it also seems to be also about making sure gamers can play their favorite titles anywhere they want to.

"We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play," said Phil Spencer in an interview with Financial Times. "Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices, but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up," he added.

Spencer didn't get into many specifics on Microsoft's future app store plans, but he hinted that popular games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Candy Crush could be part of things and help in moving players off Apple's and Google's own app stores. He also acknowledged that it is hard to predict when this would launch, but suggested that it'd be "pretty trivial," thanks to Xbox and Game Pass, and admitted that Microsoft has a "hole in our capability" when it comes to mobile games.

Microsoft previously confirmed plans for this same app store back in 2022 in regulatory filings right when the Activision Blizzard acquisition was announced, referring to it as a "next-generation store." But for this app store to launch, Microsoft has a big uphill battle. While it seems as though European regulators might pass the company's Activision deal, here in the United States the FTC seems to be against it and even sued to block it. Apple and Google would also have to both open their stores up to third-party storefronts, and there's a chance this might happen soon thanks to new rules under the European Union's Digital Markets Act.

Source: Financial Times