A few weeks ago, Microsoft exec Sarah Bond said that in November, “players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android.” It’s almost December and the feature still isn’t live, but Bond says it’s not Microsoft’s fault, The Verge reported.
The problem, as she puts it, is that Microsoft would only be able to do it once a court order takes effect that forces sweeping changes for Google’s Play Store on Android, like opening it up to competition and ending the requirement for apps to use Google Play Billing.
On October 18th, Judge James Donato granted Google’s request for a stay while it appeals his ruling that the Android app store is in an illegal monopoly, which could leave things hanging in the balance for quite a while.
Bond referenced that in a thread on Bluesky today, writing, “Due to a temporary administrative stay recently granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned. Our team has the functionality built and ready to go live as soon as the court makes a final decision.”
PureXbox reported: It was back in the early part of October that Xbox’s Sarah Bond announced a plan to bring major new features to the Xbox app on Android devices — specifically the ability to “play and purchase” games directly from it.
Google has issued a statement in response to Microsoft today, and it’s a frustrated one. The company claims that Xbox has always been able to offer these planned features via the Xbox app, and that Microsoft is “ignoring security concerns” that are related to the court ruling and the “rush to force its implementation”.
The TL:DR here is that we’re (seemingly) not getting the ability to ‘play and purchase’ Xbox games directly from the Xbox app until Google’s court appeal is sorted out, which could be well into next year if things keep dragging on.
As far as we know, Microsoft has never specifically explained why the Xbox app doesn’t support a mobile store-like feature at present, but speculation suggests it’s related to the desire to avoid paying a hefty cut to Google.
VideoGamesChronicle reported: In October, a US judge issued a permanent injunction ordering Google to open its Android marketplace to competitors.
The ruling, which was supposed to come into force this month, means Goggle will not be allowed to block the distribution of third-party Android app stores through Google Play.
Bond says that because Google requested an emergency stay — essentially pausing the ruling to give it time to appeal a ruling that says “threatens Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and trusted user experience” — Xbox can’t add its promised features until this is lifted.”
In my opinion, it sounds like Google and Microsoft are unlikely to have the desire to help the other company.