Microsoft Created an Xbox Games Store on Android, But Can’t Launch It

In early October, Microsoft's head of gaming Sarah Bond announced the launch of the Xbox game store for the Android platform in November. However, as of today, the launch has not taken place.

 

Microsoft is forced to suspend the launch of the store until Google makes significant changes to its Play Store platform. These include opening the platform to competitors and canceling the mandatory use of the Google Play Billing payment system.

A U.S. court has deemed the Google Play Store to be a monopoly and has set that, within three years, the company must allow third-party stores to operate within the Play Store and permit using any payment systems without paying a commission to Google. The original deadline for compliance with this ruling was set for November 1. However, the court has since granted Google an extension to implement the decision.

Sarah Bond confirmed this information in her messages on the Bluesky platform, indicating that the temporary suspension by the court does not allow Microsoft to launch the Xbox store on the scheduled date. She emphasized that the team has already completed the development of the store and is ready to launch as soon as the court makes a final decision.

Google spokesman Dan Jackson responded to Bond's comments by saying that Microsoft always had the option to provide Android users with access to Xbox games through its own app. According to him, Microsoft simply chose not to take advantage of that opportunity.

Jackson also noted that the court order and the rush to enforce it put the security and reliability of the Play Store at risk. He emphasized that Microsoft and Epic are ignoring real security concerns, and that Google remains focused on supporting an ecosystem that works for everyone involved, not just the two largest gaming companies.

Despite years of preparing its mobile store strategy, Microsoft has yet to clarify what exactly is stopping the company from offering Xbox games like Steam and PlayStation, outside of the integrated Xbox Cloud Gaming features.

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