The war of the app stores for iOS can escalate in an unexpected way, with the arrival of Microsoft in this arena. And yes, when I talk about the mobile app store war, I’m referring to the legal battles you’re fighting (plus more to come) for trying to keep your App Store as the only source of software installation on your devices. devices, a policy that, seeing the movements by the regulators, seems to have its days numbered.
That Microsoft has turned the gaming market into one of the company’s strategic pillars It is something that, at this point, no one can argue with. And considering the success they’re having with Xbox Game Pass, it makes sense that they’re constantly looking for ways to expand their reach in this market, whether it’s selling games, subscription services, and so on.
And what area of the gaming market has grown the most in recent years? Without a doubt that of smartphones. Since the early days of the arrival of these devices, it was already possible to see their great potential in this regard, and it didn’t take long for the first games to appear and reach enormous popularity, which in turn translated into huge profits for their creators. Something that has only grown exponentially with purchases in-app and subscriptions.
Thus, combining both things, it makes a lot of sense that those from Redmond have set this objective and that, as we can read in The Verge, Microsoft is preparing an Xbox mobile game store for Android and iOS. And there is a fundamental element in these plans that, surely, will have come to your head immediately. Indeed, I am talking about the still pending purchase of Activision-Blizzard-King. And it is that if the company finally becomes its property, Microsoft will have added to its catalog a few highly successful titles for smartphones, from classic hits like Candy Crush to the much more recent and tremendously popular (and financially successful, of course) Diablo Immoral, or Call of Duty: Mobile, to mention some of the most relevant.
With that catalog, to which It would be necessary to add the games for Android and iOS that are already part of the Microsoft catalog Before the purchase, it makes perfect sense that the company has considered offering its own app store, with which to offer the same to users of both platforms, directly, without going through the Google and Apple stores. Something that, in the current situation, seems much more feasible in the first case than in the second.
In Redmond they are aware that it will not be something simple, Sure. On the one hand, of course, there is the difficulty of being able to bring its own store to iOS, although in this sense, more and more signs suggest that Apple will have to give up the exclusivity that it has maintained up to now. On the other hand, there is the inertia of the users, who would have to adopt this new store once it is implemented, something that again seems to be easier on Android than on iOS.
And there is a third key point, but it can cause sparks to fly between Microsoft on the one hand, and Apple and Google on the other. And it is that this store not only plans to offer its own games, but also those of third parties that wish to be distributed through this new application store. And why do I say that sparks can fly here? Well, because Microsoft is considering, according to the leaked documents, do not charge commissions to developers. Something that, without a doubt, would result in an exodus of many of them, in order to receive 100% of the income generated by their apps.
This, without a doubt, can put the other two companies on a war footing, since games represent, today, a formidable source of income for both, something that will be deeply threatened if Microsoft’s plans go ahead.
