Replace, October 14, 2024: Xbox has clarified GameIndustry.biz that Sarah Bond’s announcement referred to full Xbox console titles, rather than mobile games. Purchased titles will be playable in the Xbox app through Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The unedited article below has been modified to reflect this.
Intact story, October 11, 2024: Microsoft is expanding its mobile gaming offerings with plans to sell titles within its Xbox app on Android next week.
The scoop came via a social media post from Xbox President Sarah Bond, who said players will be able to purchase and play games at the same time from the app. There have been incorrect additional details about what titles will be available, but the game sales build will be “starting in November.”
This has no bearing on Microsoft’s plans to found its own mobile application suite. {The market} was initially planned to launch this summer, establishing itself with first-party titles such as Sweet Weight and Minecraft.
Microsoft’s mobile package may be somewhat removed from the Xbox app, and likely larger in scale, as Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer said in December that the package was being developed with unnamed partners.
Bond linked the Xbox app’s surge in game sales to the hot US court ruling to move games from Google Play to rival app stores. We told experts who said that these changes could have a minimal impact on the dynamics of the cellular market.
