Microsoft will also compete with Google and Apple in this lucrative market with its own online store for purchases within mobile games.
The store, which will only be accessible via the browser, will be available from July. At first, this was only with games from Microsoft itself, which included titles such as Candy Crush Saga and Minecraft. Later, other developers can also offer their products.
Xbox boss Sarah Bond presented the plans at the Bloomberg Technology Summit. She said Microsoft is opting for a browser version so that the store is “accessible on all devices, in all countries, no matter what.”
Until recently, Google and Apple had almost all the power over the mobile games market, which amounts to 90 billion dollars (almost 84 billion euros). In addition, those players could ask for commissions of around thirty percent for all purchases made in a game, much to the dismay of the developers.
In the European Union, this market has been opened up this year by the Digital Markets Act. This allows parties other than iPhone maker Apple and Android developer Google to sell directly to consumers.
It is not yet known what the platform will technically look like, but Microsoft may charge lower rates than Apple and Google to compete with them.
