Better xCloud developer redphx noticed that the store URL Microsoft had been testing for the past couple of years no longer works. It’s not clear exactly when it disappeared, but the last time the website was updated was nearly a year ago.
The store was originally supposed to compete with Google and Apple, but strict app store rules have prevented Microsoft from launching its dream Xbox mobile store.
“Three weeks ago, we filed an amicus because mobile competition still matters and we believe the future of play should be more open,” says Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma. “While I am still learning, the idea of an Xbox mobile store is not dead.”
Microsoft was hoping the outcome of the Digital Markets Act in Europe or court action in the US would help force open Google and Apple’s stores, but the company then pivoted to just a web-based version that would provide deals on in-game items. While the idea might not be dead, Microsoft has been trying for years to get this thing off the ground.
That said, Epic’s lawsuit against Google may finally provide ways for Microsoft to launch its Xbox store on Android. Outside the US, it could join Google’s “Registered App Store” program, which could make it a little easier to get sideloaded app stores onto Android phones when it launches later this year. Inside the US, Google may even be forced to carry stores like Microsoft’s inside its own Google Play Store — assuming Microsoft can wait that long.
Microsoft is currently trying to convince the judge in Epic v. Google that having its store inside Google’s store is the right solution. That’s what the amicus brief Sharma mentioned is all about. “Microsoft has undertaken significant efforts to prepare and launch new consumer offerings, which have won approval from Android users,” it writes in the brief, arguing that the court should force Google to crack open Android rather than accepting Google’s “Registered App Stores” as an alternative solution.
“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 former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in an interview in 2023. “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.”
Three years later, Microsoft is still waiting for those devices to be opened up.
Update, April 22nd: Added information from Epic v. Google and Microsoft’s amicus brief in that case.