Microsoft recently described plans to bring an Xbox Store to mobile platforms, such as iOS and Android. While it’s unclear the exact shape that the store would take, it will center around Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The mobile Call of Duty games, Blizzard titles like Diablo Immortal and Warcraft Arclight Rumble, and even Candy Crush are all made by Activision. These could set a firm foundation for a mobile storefront from Microsoft that could expand further.
The majority of Microsoft’s first-party studies focus on console gaming, but there are some teams that make mobile games, such as Alpha Dog Games, which is under Bethesda Softworks. The Casual Games team could also add value to a mobile Xbox store.
“Building on Activision Blizzard’s existing communities of gamers, Xbox will seek to scale the Xbox Store to mobile, attracting gamers to a new Xbox Mobile Platform,” said the company. “Shifting consumers away from the Google Play Store and App Store on mobile devices will, however, require a major shift in consumer behaviour. Microsoft hopes that by offering well-known and popular content, gamers will be more inclined to try something new.”
There are several questions about a mobile Xbox store. The most pressing is how it would work on iOS. Apple doesn’t seem likely to allow Microsoft to launch a competing store any time soon, especially after the Epic Games case.
But we can’t answer how Microsoft will get its store onto mobile platforms. We can measure what would entice people to switch to such a store.
Microsoft has a lot of options when it comes to incentives. The company could provide benefits to Game Pass subscribers, list exclusive content in its mobile store, or undercut the sales price of content in comparison to competing stores. Let us know what would make you switch in the poll above, then hop on over to our official Discord channel to chat about your reasons.
