Microsoft Tried To Convince Apple To Release Xbox Exclusive Games On The App Store

If you did not know, Microsoft doesn’t actually make money by selling the Xbox console. Instead, the company relies on people purchasing games and paying for its online services to generate revenue for its Xbox platform. This is why exclusive platform titles are one of the ways Microsoft tries to convince gamers to hop on board the Xbox bandwagon.

However, it seems that Microsoft was willing to break some of those exclusives. According to emails obtained by The Verge, it revealed that Microsoft had at one point tried to quietly negotiate with Apple to bring its Xbox exclusives to the App Store.

This was apparently part of the company’s strategy to try and convince Apple to allow its xCloud streaming service onto the App Store, where offering these Xbox exclusives was Microsoft’s way to try and sweeten the deal.

For those unfamiliar, Apple has rules that state that in order for game streaming apps to be allowed on the App Store, the games available through the streaming platform need to also be available as standalone apps. However, in the emails sent between Microsoft and Apple, Microsoft felt that this was impractical and would be frustrating to customers.

The emails also detail how Microsoft tried various ways to find some kind of middle ground, but ultimately it seems that Apple did not budge, in which Microsoft believed that this could be due to money as Apple would lose out on the commissions they would get from in-app purchases.

Apple has since confirmed that to be the case in a statement made to The Verge where they say, “Unfortunately, Microsoft proposed a version of xCloud that was not compliant with our App Store Review Guidelines, specifically the requirement to use in-app purchase to unlock additional features or functionality within an app.”

That being, Microsoft and other companies such as Google have since found workarounds where they have made their streaming services available and playable through the mobile version of Safari.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones, Gaming
Tags: Apps, iOS, iPhone, Microsoft, Xbox