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Microsoft Wants to Launch Xbox Games Store on iPhone
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You can totally access third party programs on the current Xboxs. Not sure if anyone has bothered to build a complete store though. I can play Nintendo games on a Microsoft console through methods Microsoft approves. Even though most people and regulators agree that a games console is not a general computing device like a PC or Tablet.
Haven't gamed on a mac or apple product since maybe the first StarCraft in the 2000s.
Have no desire to start again now.
Have no desire to start again now.
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Mac also runs Gatekeeper so even something installed from the wild needs to have code signing from Apple. Sure, you can circumvent that… but why would you? For one, now you’re really playing dangerously, and the big one - it constantly harasses you with warnings. Like what Google does to dissuade you from using apps and app stores outside of Google Play. Constant prompts are effective deterrents.
AAA games are a great experience on the 7" Steam Deck, so why wouldn't they work on a 11" iPad?
Console makers selling at a loss is the decision of the console maker to lock you into their ecosystem. The ecosystem is all that matters. It’s actually why Microsoft shifted gears from focusing on Windows to focusing on their overall ecosystem.
PC gaming is bigger than console gaming, and gaming is the biggest segment of revenue on mobile.
All this lobbying by Microsoft to open up iOS and Android is because that’s where the real money is on mobile. They messed up in the past and now have adjusted their strategy. They want their cake and to eat it too.
It’s semantics that Microsoft and Sony have pushed to limit regulation. Xbox and PS have web browsers, media players, streaming apps, games, etc. Heck, the Xbox is basically a PC at this point. The Xbox app in Windows is basically the same code base that runs on the console.
I actually think that this will come into play in March 2023. Apple is facing scrutiny in multiple countries. It’s just a matter of time.
So does Apple get to feature their App Store on the Microsoft App Store as well? How does that work when the Microsoft Appstore has been reached by means of the Apple App Store - does it still have another Apple App Store inside it??
Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch an Xbox games store on the iPhone as early as next year, but the plans depend on multiple regulatory measures.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer said the app's launch hinges on regulators approving the company's acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard, as this would give Microsoft a wider portfolio of mobile games. Second, the app would only be able to launch if the EU's Digital Markets Act and other regulations allowing for alternative app stores on iOS are enforced.
"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," Spencer told the 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."
In December, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was preparing to allow alternative app stores on the iPhone in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act, which is expected to come into effect in March 2024. Gurman said Apple was aiming to roll out the changes with an iOS 17 update next year for iPhone users in Europe only. This means the Xbox games store would not be available in the U.S., at least initially.
Xbox already offers a cloud gaming service on the iPhone, but games are only playable via the web instead of the App Store. Apple has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny over its tight control of the App Store, leading the company to make changes in some countries, such as allowing alternative payments in South Korea.
Article Link: Microsoft Wants to Launch Xbox Games Store on iPhone
The real win would be getting Xbox Gamepass Cloud streaming on Apple TV. I wonder if Apple would ever allow that, or if the Apple TV is up to the task? Of course, Microsoft may not want that as it could/would eat directly into their core console market, but man would that be a disruptive option to have.
While I would love to, my understanding is that the Xbox does not qualify as "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act since it does not satisfy the relevant quantitative criteria.
One of the criteria is having at least "10k business users" over a year, meaning in the case of an "online intermediary service" like an app store, at least 10k different publishers. For Xbox it would mean having at least 10k independent game publishers offering their games through the Xbox platform to qualify.
Xbox does not even have that many game titles in total, let alone that number of publishers. Xbox has something like 5k games and an even smaller number of publishers since multiple games belong to the same publisher.
Compare to the Apple's App Store which offers over 1.7 million apps from more than 700k different publishers.
Somebody advertised their game for the App Store on a message board. He stressed that if you don't use the link provided to the entry on the App Store, or add the '.' at the end when searching by title, the game will not show up!
I mostly agree except that several of those named do run stores and app stores of various types and some of them are terrible. Most of them just copy what Apple does anyway, but even worse.
I just wish Apple would live up to their talk and keep the App Store good and make it even better and not sink to the level of some of those others, for example with their recent aggressive and ham-fisted ad push. I’m not against them having ads in the app store but the way they did it shows their priority is not the user experience like they claim it is.
Steam I agree. Microsoft has not done the best job with their own app store but they do seem to be getting better.
It’s just too bad there are so few games (that I want to play or haven’t already played out) on Steam for me to install and run on my Macs...
It would be interesting to see a world where Microsoft makes some of the best apps for Apple platforms. Just like Microsoft did to others back in the day, I don’t think Apple will allow anything *too* useful as they keep many APIs for themselves.
Would ATT warnings still work for apps downloaded though other app stores?
This is a very good point. Wait until Meta moves all their apps to their own AppStore 😬
I still remember how everyone insisted this would never happen if Apple relaxed their rules.
If Microsoft are so eager to bring gaming to other platforms, where is Age of Empires 2 for Mac? It use to be available in the PowerPC days. It is all i want, so i don't have to mess with work arounds.
On Windows yeah the store sucks. But we're not talking the Windows App Store, we're talking about the Xbox Store, which is actually good. The Xbox team actually knows what they're doing.
Time to get a Steam Deck then.
https://www.steamdeck.com/
Bare minimum all people want is Xbox Cloud available on iOS natively just like it is on Android. Google allows them on the Play Store, yet Apple doesn't since Apple is incredibly out of touch with the games industry.
Playing AAA games via the Xbox Cloud should take quite a bit of revenue away from the mobile games sold on the Apple App Store. I can’t imagine Apple will be happy about this although they probably saw it coming and its good for consumers.