Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) intends to launch a gaming app store for iPhone and Android smartphones to take advantage of new rules requiring Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to liberalise their mobile platforms for third-party use under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer said the store could come as early as 2024, after the new act takes effect in March.
“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, chief ahead of this week’s annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
“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,” said Spencer.
The plans are said to be contingent on regulatory approval of Microsoft’s long-await acquisition of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) for US$75bn (£61bn).
Competition watchdogs in the UK, Europe and US have heavily scrutinised the merger under concerns of market dominance for Activision-owned AAA video game franchise Call of Duty.
Spencer reckons Microsoft’s gaming app plans could boost competition in the mobile games market, where Apple and Google currently operate a "duopoly" over distribution.
Microsoft's current lack of mobile games was an "obvious hole in our capability" that it needed Activision Blizzard to fill, Spencer said.
Activision titles such as Call of Duty Mobile, Diablo Immortal and Candy Crush Saga, as well as more in development, would be "critically important" in attracting players away from Apple and Google's marketplaces to an Xbox mobile store, he added.