Microsoft
has
been
talking
about
plans
for
an
Xbox
mobile
gaming
store
for
a
couple
of
years
now,
and
the
company
now
plans
to
launch
it
in
July.
Speaking
at
the
Bloomberg
Technology
Summit
earlier
today,
Xbox
president
Sarah
Bond
revealed
the
launch
date
and
how
Microsoft
is
going
to
avoid
Apple’s
strict
App
Store
rules.
“We’re
going
to
start
by
bringing
our
own
first-party
portfolio
to
[the
Xbox
mobile
store],
so
you’re
going
to
see
games
like
Candy
Crush
show
up
in
that
experience,
games
like
Minecraft,”
says
Bond.
“We’re
going
to
start
on
the
web,
and
we’re
doing
that
because
that
really
allows
us
to
have
it
be
an
experience
that’s
accessible
across
all
devices,
all
countries,
no
matter
what
and
independent
of
the
policies
of
closed
ecosystem
stores.”
The
store
will
be
focused
on
first-party
mobile
games
from
Microsoft’s
various
studios,
which
include
huge
hits
like
Call
of
Duty:
Mobile and Candy
Crush
Saga.
Bond
says
the
company
will
extend
this
to
partners
at
some
point
in
the
future,
too.
While
games
will
naturally
be
part
of
the
store,
it
sounds
like
the
key
parts
of
the
Xbox
experience
will
also
be
available.
Bond
argues
there
isn’t
a
gaming
platform
and
store
experience
that
“goes
truly
across
devices
—
where
who
you
are,
your
library,
your
identity,
your
rewards
travel
with
you
versus
being
locked
to
a
single
ecosystem.”
So
Microsoft
is
trying
to
build
that
with
its
Xbox
mobile
store.
Microsoft
had
also
been
building
this
store
in
anticipation
of
companies
like
Apple
and
Google
being
forced
to
open
up
their
mobile
app
stores,
but
it’s
clear
the
software
giant
isn’t
willing
to
wait
on
the
Digital
Markets
Act
to
shake
out
in
Europe
or
any
potential
action
in
the
US.
A
web-only
mobile
store
will
be
challenging
to
pull
off,
and
it’s
not
immediately
clear
how
Microsoft
will
position
this
as
an
alternative
to
these
mobile
games
already
existing
on
rival
app
stores.
Bond
says
Microsoft
will
“extend”
beyond
the
web,
hinting
that
it
could
eventually
launch
a
true
rival
to
Google
and
Apple’s
mobile
app
stores
at
some
point
soon.
Microsoft
first
hinted
at
a
“next-generation
store”
in
early
2022,
just
a
month
after
the
company
announced
its
Activision
Blizzard
acquisition.
“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
Microsoft
Gaming
CEO
Phil
Spencer
in
an interview
with
the Financial
Times
last
year.
“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.”
(Originally posted by Tom Warren)
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