Microsoft: Alleged Xbox Mobile Gaming Store under construction

Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch an in-house Xbox Mobile Gaming Store. This should be in direct competition with Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.

Like The Verge, among others explainedthe information has become known due to the filings of the British Competition and Markets Authority, also known as the CMA, in the course of the current $ 68.7 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.

Microsoft: “Next Generation Game Store” should work across devices

With the takeover of Activision Blizzard, their mobile games naturally also play an important role for Microsoft. With the inclusion of King, the aim is to further expand the Xbox brand in the area of ​​mobile games. According to the documents, the “transaction will enhance Microsoft’s ability to create a next-generation game store that will work across a range of devices, including mobile, by adding Activision Blizzard’s content.”

And further: “Building on Activision Blizzard’s existing gamer communities, Xbox will seek to extend the Xbox Store to mobile devices and attract gamers to a new Xbox Mobile platform.” Google and Apple are even explicitly named as the main competitors.

“However, moving consumers away from the Google Play Store and App Store on mobile devices will require a fundamental shift in consumer behavior,” the statement continued. Microsoft would also hope that by offering familiar and popular content, players would be more inclined to try something new.

Attack on mobile market important part of acquisition

Microsoft expects the acquisition to give it a significant presence in the mobile gaming space, the filings show. This is also proven by the sales that Activision Blizzard was able to book with titles such as those from King or Call of Duty: Mobile and the ancillary income in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, Microsoft doesn’t have a significant presence in the mobile games space, which is why they rely on the expertise of mobile game developers. Activision Blizzard is “able to bring its experience in developing and publishing mobile games to Xbox game studios.”

The CMA was originally created to focus on console games and the Call of Duty series in particular. In the past, Microsoft had repeatedly been accused of winning the competition with Sony through an unfair approach. Recent reports show that the company’s ambitions go beyond the console war.

The Verge also reports on an opportunity that Microsoft wants to offer developers to run their own stores on the Xbox mobile platform and also offer their own payment systems for in-game purchases. Apparently, this promises to attract game developers of mobile games. This will also be necessary because the competition for Google and Apple is already established. By the way, we show you the new additions to Apple’s Arcade range here.