Google has an important task on the horizon: opening the Google Play Store to competition for three years. That, in a few words, means that companies like Epic Games will be able to distribute their own app stores within the official Google app store and, furthermore, that it will not be mandatory to use the Google Play billing system. Microsoft is one of the companies that is going to take advantage of this situation, but an unexpected setback has put its plan on hold.
Context. In early October, Judge James Donato (Epic vs Google case) ruled that Google would have to open its app store to other stores. It was then that Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, announced that, thanks to that decision, “players will be able to play and Buy Xbox games directly from the Xbox application on Android.” And couldn’t that have been done already? Yes, but no.
Buy and play. That is the key point of everything. The PlayStation and Steam applications already allow you to purchase games without going through Google’s billing system. Microsoft, however, wants us to be able to buy and, the nuance, play. What would we need to be able to play Xbox games on an Android mobile? Xbox Cloud Gaming. What do we need to access Xbox Cloud Gaming? Be subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate. And what about subscriptions on Android? That yes or yes they have to go through the Google billing system. Judge James Donato’s decision changes this and hence its importance.
Appeal. Google appealed the decision and asked that this obligation be put on hold, claiming that it “threatens Google Play’s ability to offer a safe and reliable user experience.” In a statement issued by Google (PDF), the company stated the following:
-“Forcing Google to distribute third-party app stores within Google Play harms security and privacy”
-“Giving hundreds of third-party Android app stores access to the Google Play app catalog reduces developers’ control over app distribution and puts users at risk.”
-“Linking from within an app on Google Play to external app downloads is dangerous”
-“Eliminating Play billing as an option reduces important protections and features that users rely on.”
-“Hustling the application of solutions will increase the risks for users, developers and device manufacturers.”
Microsoft is waiting. This change appears to be a condition sine qua non to launch the video game purchase and play feature in the Xbox app. “Due to a temporary administrative stay recently granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned,” Sarah Bond explained. “Our team has the functionality created and ready to go as soon as the court makes a final decision,” he said in a post published on Bluesky. So, this feature will have to wait.
Google’s defense. In response to Bond’s words, Google has stated the following: “Microsoft has always been able to offer its Android users the possibility of playing and purchasing Xbox games directly from its application, but it has simply chosen not to do so. The Court’s order and the rush to force its implementation threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a secure experience. Microsoft, like Epic, is ignoring these very real security concerns. We remain focused on supporting an ecosystem that works for everyone, not just two. of the largest gaming companies.
We will have to wait to know the results, but what is clear is that Judge James Donato’s decision has the potential to change the ecosystem of mobile applications and games completely.
Everything is a console. That Microsoft wants to launch this function aligns with its mission of wanting to turn every gadget with a screen into a video game console. As we have already commented on many other occasions, physical format and support are a thing of the past for Xbox, which is betting everything on the cloud and digital. Being able to buy a game on mobile and launch it directly is just another step in this missive. In that sense, Xbox recently announced the ability to run games that are not in Game Pass in the cloud, which is one of the cornerstones of this new way of understanding video games.
Cover image | Microsoft
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