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Microsoft will officially enter the mobile game store space this summer. With the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King formalized, the dust settles on the legal precedent for Epic v. Apple, and the disruption of the digital market by the European Union, Microsoft believes there has never been a better time to compete for market share.
The current mobile game store ecosystem is dominated by Apple's App Store, Google Play, and their respective fees and terms, so consumers don't have many options to buy mobile games. Some may remember the antitrust lawsuit that Epic Games filed against Apple in 2021, which ended in early 2024, but not much progress was made against this alleged monopolistic behavior. But now Microsoft is entering the fray with a new strategy.
Xbox President Sarah Bond announced at the Bloomberg Tech Summit that Xbox's mobile game store will go live in July of this year. Bond explained that the Xbox Mobile Store is unique in that its initial accessibility is "on the web" rather than Apple's or Google's app-based mobile stores. The store will initially offer offers on in-game items for first-party Xbox games, and will eventually open up the selection to external publishers. Bond went on to explain that the decision to start with a web-based store "gave Xbox an experience that could be accessed across all devices, in all countries." ”
Bond singled out Microsoft's controversial acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King, which was completed in October 2023, as one of the reasons for the shift to mobile. With this acquisition, games such as Candy Crush Saga, Call of Duty Mobile, and Hearthstone are all part of Microsoft's first-party portfolio. Microsoft intends to put these games, as well as the powerful Minecraft, into the new Xbox store first, but hopes to get other publishers into the store soon. "We want to make sure that we start with our own intellectual property first and scale up," Bond explains. "This allows us to ensure that the experience we bring to our partners is truly built on all the qualities and experience that we have as a team." Bond seems to have hinted that although the store was initially web-based, it will eventually be accessible through other platforms". Bond did not elaborate on what this extension means, nor did he elaborate on what it means for the future of the current Microsoft Store.
In an interview with the Financial Times last year, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer singled out the idea of creating an Xbox mobile market, citing the European Union's Digital Markets Act. The bill, which came into force largely in May 2023, aims to make the European digital market more fair by identifying "gatekeepers", i.e. the largest companies in the mobile industry. Sarah Bond's mention of the purchase of ABK seems to confirm the motivation to buy the group, and as the EU begins to make progress on the Digital Markets Act, the conditions for Microsoft and Xbox's foray into the space seem to be compatible. Created a competitor for Apple and Google. Time will tell what the arrival of the Xbox Mobile Store means for the Microsoft Store as a whole.
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Microsoft Game Studios
Introduction: Microsoft Game Studios (MGS), formerly known as Microsoft Game Division, has been using its current trademark and name since 2002 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft that develops and publishes games for Windows-based PCs and Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. MGS publishes games for several Microsoft-owned first-party developers, including Bungie Studios and Rare, as well as games made by third-party developers such as Bioware and Bizarre Creations.
Founded: 2002
Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, USA
代表作品：Xbox 360，Xbox One，Xbox One Serious
The first release of Microsoft's first-party studio titles will be added to the XGP subscription list.