In October, Xbox President Sarah Bond promised that by the end of November it would be possible to “purchase and play Xbox games directly from the Xbox app for Android.” It’s almost December, and there’s still no such opportunity, and, according to Ms. Bond, it’s not Microsoft that’s to blame, but Google.
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Microsoft will implement this opportunity only after a court ruling comes into force, which will force Google to make radical changes to the Play Store: it must open to competing platforms, and application developers will no longer be required to use the Google Play Billing payment system. But on October 18, Judge James Donato granted Google’s request for a delay until the company appeals his decision that the Play Store is an illegal monopoly. “Due to a temporary administrative reprieve recently granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned. Our team has developed a feature set and is ready to release as soon as the court makes a final decision,” said Sarah Bond.
Google, however, continues to insist on its own. “Microsoft has always had the ability to offer its Android users the ability to buy and play Xbox games directly from its app—they just chose not to. The court’s decision and its hasty implementation jeopardize Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience. Microsoft, as well as Epic [Games], are ignoring these real security issues. We remain focused on supporting an ecosystem that works for everyone, not just the two biggest gaming companies,” Google spokesman Dan Jackson told The Verge.
Microsoft has been planning to launch a mobile game store for several years now – it could present it both in the format of an application and a platform for launching in the browser. She promises to release the browser version “soon” in August.