“Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices,” Xbox president Sarah Bond said.
Microsoft has revealed that Xbox enthusiasts will soon be able to buy and play Xbox games straight from the Xbox app on Android, in reaction to a recent court decision.
This week, a judge in the Epic v. Google lawsuit decided that Google must permit competing third-party app shops to operate inside Google Play. Microsoft will start selling Xbox games directly to customers on November 1st thanks to this initiative, which is being led by Tim Sweeney of Epic.
This ruling was rendered because the Fortnite studio persuaded the court that Google made it extremely difficult for any competing store within Google Play to effectively compete in the market. It’s unclear why Microsoft wasn’t already selling Xbox games within its current Android app, as The Verge notes. In any case, Microsoft probably won’t have to pay Google a charge that it may have previously had to because it can now sell straight to customers through its own shop within the Xbox app.
Xbox President Sarah Bond confirmed the revelation, saying, “Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices.”
The court’s ruling to open up Google´s mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility. Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly…
— BondSarahBond (@BondSarah_Bond) October 10, 2024
Which particular titles could be offered for sale through the Xbox app are currently unknown. It’s also important to note that Google is contesting the decision and that this only pertains to the US at this time.
Microsoft plans to eventually have its own mobile game shop in addition to selling games through the Xbox app for Android. In other Xbox mobile news, Microsoft merged the Xbox Game Pass app into the main Xbox app and eliminated the separate app. According to reports, Microsoft is also thinking about including a portable gadget into the upcoming Xbox console generation.