Back in October, Microsoft announced that it would finally start selling Xbox games through its app on Android devices in November. This, as The edge points outhasn't happened yet. Now Xbox President Sarah Bond has taken to social media to place the blame for this delay squarely on Google.
A year ago, Epic has won a huge and surprising victory against Google in their ongoing litigation. Currently, all purchases on Android devices must be made through Google's payment system, from which the search company charges a 30 percent fee. Epic that wants to be able to sell Fortnite Buying in-game items without handing over a third of the money to Google went to court on the grounds that it was anti-competitive. Epic's victory, followed by the judge's rather excited comments And final decision in October 2024 meant Google had to end its dominance and allow alternative methods for purchases on its devices for which it wouldn't get a cut.
Yes, “would” because of course that didn’t happen. Given that Microsoft announced its plans based on the ruling, Microsoft may have been a bit over the top Course Google appealed and was granted an “administrative stay” to prevent this significant revision.
In a post on BlueSky yesterday, Sarah Bond explained the reasons for the delay from her perspective. “I recently shared our goal to initially unlock these features in the Google Play Store on Android devices in the US, while other app stores adapt to consumer demand,” she wrote in a thread. “Due to a temporary administrative stay recently granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned.”
Bond goes on to say that Microsoft has the “functionality developed and ready to go live,” but is awaiting approval in court.
This all takes on an added layer of irony when you consider that Microsoft's new “This is an Xbox” advertising campaign is based on the idea that any device can be an Xbox thanks to streaming. That still applies to your Android phone via the browser, of course, but Microsoft is clearly looking for a closed system that allows it to sell you games on Android and then let you play them in the same app.
Google has long argued that it must continue to collect a third of all money to keep its customers safe because its own Play Store prevents malicious actors from abusing the system. “Microsoft, like Epic, is ignoring these very real security concerns,” the company said in a statement The edge.
There's also a lot of confusion that Microsoft doesn't seem to want to clear up, as Sony and Steam allow games to be purchased through the PlayStation app, although of course neither allow the games to be played through that application. It's not immediately clear whether Sony or Valve will pay the 30 percent or avoid it because they process payments through webpage loading in their apps, but Microsoft certainly has no plans to do so any time soon.
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