Microsoft is pushing forward with its own Xbox mobile gaming store

Amid increased scrutiny on Google and Apple for their locked-down app stores, Microsoft is pushing forward with an Xbox-branded store for mobile games on Android and iOS.

News of a mobile game store from Microsoft first surfaced amid the company’s Activision-Blizzard acquisition last year, but it’s been pretty quiet in the time since. But, according to Phil Spencer himself, Microsoft is pushing forward with the effort.

In an interview at CCXP, a comics convention in Brazil, Xbox chief Phil Spencer directly confirmed that Microsoft is “in talks” with partners to launch a mobile game store that could launch reasonably soon.

Spencer said, as documented by Bloomberg:

It’s an important part of our strategy and something we are actively working on today not only alone, but talking to other partners who’d also like to see more choice for how they can monetize on the phone… I don’t think this is multiple years away, I think this is sooner than that.

We’ve talked about choice, and today on your mobile phones, you don’t have choice. To make sure that Xbox is not only relevant today but for the next 10, 20 years, we’re going to have to be strong across many screens.

While Google technically allows third-party app/game stores on Android, it’s not a popular practice as it requires users to enable sideloading. Apple, meanwhile, currently doesn’t allow third-party stores at all, but EU regulation might change that.

Notably, too, The Verge reports that, prior to the Microsoft acquisition, Activision-Blizzard was looking into its own game store on Android.

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