Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, in a recent interview with the Financial Times, has made a statement reaffirming Microsoft’s plans to release a mobile app store based on Xbox.
“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 Spencer. “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.”
The Xbox mobile app store is being developed to be released in time for EU’s Digital Markets Act, which is set to happen in March 2024. “The Digital Markets Act that’s coming, those are the kinds of things that we are planning for,” said Spencer. “I think it’s a huge opportunity.”
Microsoft’s plans of launching a mobile app store based on Xbox were first officially revealed in an official filing part of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard back in October 2022. Since then, the acquisition has been the subject of scrutiny by various regulatory bodies, including the EU’s European Commission.