Microsoft continues to strive for the goal of offering an App Store on smartphones.
Source: Microsoft
At the beginning of the year we learned through an interview that Microsoft wanted to launch an application store for smartphones. This would essentially focus on gaming, becoming the “Steam of mobile.” To do this, Microsoft needs the support of other publishers.
Microsoft is looking for partners
Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division, returned to the topic during an interview with Bloomberg at the CCXP Congress in Brazil. He points out that Microsoft is currently looking for partners “who also want to have more choice when it comes to monetization on mobile.”
Remember that Apple and Google give themselves a 15% to 30% tax on sales in their app stores, with both companies exercising dominance in their respective systems. It’s the same “tax” that led Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games (Fortnite), to go to war against the two giants. Epic would therefore be a good candidate to partner with Microsoft on this alternative.
Big bets
Mobile is a big topic for Phil Spencer. If Microsoft paid nearly $69 billion to buy Activision-Blizzard-King, it wasn’t so much for strong licenses like Call of Duty on consoles and PC, but rather for the publisher’s portfolio of mobile games. We are thinking in particular of Candy Crush Saga and Call of Duty Mobile. Real boards to print tickets.
Additionally, mobile devices are taking on a special place with the advent of cloud gaming. It would make perfect sense to highlight it in a dedicated store. Phil Spencer wants to make the Xbox brand relevant “not just today, but for the next 10 or 20 years.”
Others broke their teeth
This Xbox Store (or whatever it’s called) could be coming soon. Phil Spencer says not to wait “several years,” it will be “sooner.” However, there are third-party stores, at least for Android, but none have the strength that the Google Play Store can have. As an example we can cite the Amazon Appstore, which was never really successful; It is very difficult to change consumption habits on a large scale. Additionally, Microsoft doesn’t have a particularly illustrious history with application stores, as even the Windows Store sees very little use on its own system.
However, now is the right time to try the adventure. With the ratification of the DMA (Digital Market Act) in the European Union, Apple must also open its doors to third-party stores. With that monopoly ending, Microsoft has an opportunity to get people talking about its new store.