Most of Apple’s recently-announced App Store changes are exclusively for iPhone users in the European Union, but there’s one exception. Apple also announced last month that it is relaxing its App Store Guidelines for cloud gaming apps worldwide
This opens the door for services like Xbox Cloud Gaming to finally release a native app for the iPhone and iPad, but apparently Microsoft is not interested in doing that.
Cloud gaming apps on iPhone
Previously, Apple required developers to submit a separate app for each game individually on the App Store. For example, Microsoft would’ve been required to submit each and every game available via Xbox Cloud Gaming as separate apps. Microsoft repeatedly criticized these requirements and said it was a “bad experience for customers.”
In an interview with The Verge, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said that the company is still not pleased with Apple’s rule changes. Spencer says there is “not room” for Microsoft to monetize Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS, and aligns himself with comments made by Sarah Bond, president of Xbox at Microsoft, last month.
Spencer said:
There’s not room for us to monetize Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS. I think the proposal that Apple put forward — and I thought Sarah Bond’s comments on this were right on — doesn’t go far enough to open up. In fact, you might even say they go the opposite direction in some way, but they definitely don’t go far enough to open up competition on the world’s largest gaming platform.
We will continue to work with regulators, and Apple and Google, to create a space for alternative storefronts. I’m a big fan of how Windows works, and you’ve got a Microsoft Store on Windows, you’ve got Steam, you’ve got the Epic Games Store, you’ve got GOG. You have alternatives, and I think alternative ways for people to buy things creates goodness for consumers and creators. I think the largest platform for gamers, which is mobile, should have the same.
9to5Mac’s Take
I don’t buy into Spencer’s arguments here, and part of me wonders if he is conflating Apple’s proposed third-party app marketplace changes with its separate decision to allow cloud gaming apps on the App Store.
The changes to the App Store Guidelines to allow cloud gaming apps apply worldwide, and they do not require developers to opt into the new business terms. This means Microsoft could offer Xbox Cloud Gaming without paying the controversial new Core Technology Fee.
Spencer could also simply be referring to Microsoft not wanting to sell Xbox Cloud Gaming subscriptions and games in-app and share a cut of that revenue with Apple. That’s a fair argument, but Microsoft wouldn’t be required to sell content in the Xbox Cloud Gaming app. Let users pay via the web, then sign in to their accounts in the Xbox Cloud Gaming app, and everyone’s happy. Netflix exists on iPhone and iPad without in-app purchases, sharing zero revenue with Apple.
I also wonder how the death of Home Screen web apps in the European Union will affect the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience. Currently, Microsoft offers Xbox Cloud Gaming via Safari and encourages users to save games to their IPhone’s Home Screen as PWAs.
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