{"id":10663,"date":"2024-05-11T10:37:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-11T10:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bignox.com\/blog\/noxplay17153950724StgtjmRnJRzTZEfQUSwL"},"modified":"2024-05-11T10:37:52","modified_gmt":"2024-05-11T10:37:52","slug":"noxplay17153950724StgtjmRnJRzTZEfQUSwL","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bignox.com\/blog\/noxplay17153950724StgtjmRnJRzTZEfQUSwL\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Set To Launch Mobile Games Store This July"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft will open a mobile game store in July to compete with Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Xbox president Sarah Bond recently announced the move at the Bloomberg Technology Summit<\/a>, stating that the store will launch on the web, rather than through an app, in order to maximize accessibility across many devices.<\/p>\n

Microsoft stated that it planned to launch a gaming storefront last year after the European Union’s Digital Markets Act made it easier for tech companies to start their own direct-to-consumer stores, eschewing Apple’s dominant “walled garden” approach. Bond said that the store will initially feature games from Microsoft-owned studios, such as Candy Crush Saga.<\/p>\n

This storefront marks Microsoft’s latest attempt at entering the lucrative mobile gaming space, a market segment that Xbox is not usually associated with. The platform holder’s $69 million acquisition of Activision Blizzard helped set up this move, as that publisher includes Candy Crush developer King, one of the biggest players in the mobile space.<\/p>\n

This decision comes at a difficult time for Microsoft’s gaming division. Xbox was heavily criticized earlier in May for closing multiple studios<\/a>, including Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, which are well-known for producing critically acclaimed games<\/a> like Hi-Fi Rush and Dishonored, respectively. Bond defended<\/a> that decision at that same summit, saying that the company looked at “a whole variety of factors” when making such decisions. She also cited a lack of growth and the rising cost of making “beautiful AAA blockbuster games” as key reasons for the closures.<\/p>\n

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