Microsoft is counting on regulators to create their own mobile game store

Microsoft is preparing its own mobile game store, and regulators could help it a lot.

Apple and Google control the distribution of apps through their stores. If Google Android allows alternative app stores, they are still very marginal compared to the Play Store. Today, Microsoft is gearing up to launch its own mobile game store to break that duopoly, and the American giant is counting on regulators to get it done.

Microsoft is preparing its own mobile games store

In an interview with the Financial Times, Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, said the European Union’s Digital Market Act (DMA), which will come into effect in March 2024, will help the company achieve its mobile app store ambitions. DMA will allow companies to load their own store on iPhones and other Android smartphones, forcing Apple and Google to open their systems to such third parties.

“We want to be able to deliver our own content, as well as content from our third-party partners, to all the screens people might want to play on,” Phil Spencer told FT. “We can’t do that on mobile today, but we want to move towards a world that we hope is coming soon, where these devices are more open.”

Microsoft was in trouble with Apple over the Cloud Gaming app. The iPhone manufacturer required users to download all games available on the Microsoft cloud catalog, including Fortnite. The Redmond-based company is now asking users to use the Safari browser to use the service, which is far less straightforward than downloading the app from the App Store. Given Apple’s restrictions on downloads and in-app purchases, Microsoft’s intention to launch its own store makes sense.

and regulators could help him a lot

Over the past five years, Microsoft has acquired a number of video game studios, including Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Bethesda owner Zenimax Media, and most recently Activision Blizzard. The latest acquisition of the American giant allows it to gain a foothold in the mobile market through a separate store with games such as Call of Duty Mobile and Candy Crush Saga, as well as other games in the future. Activision Blizzard has made huge revenue from mobile games. Control over the distribution of these games through their own store would give Microsoft a major advantage.

Right now, Microsoft’s biggest challenge is to complete its takeover of Activision Blizzard as regulators in the US, UK and EU scrutinize the project. Last month, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would initiate an antitrust investigation into the deal, saying the takeover could hurt players in the country due to “higher prices and less choice”. Microsoft attempted to assuage regulators’ concerns by pledging a long-term commitment to releasing popular games like Call of Duty on competing platforms.

The American giant also recently signed a 10-year contract to port Xbox games to the Nintendo console. Additionally, Microsoft has also pledged to offer these games on Nvidia’s cloud gaming services, Boosteroid, and Ubitus.