The dispute between the two US tech companies is not exactly new, and the fact that they are starting to fight again is no surprise.
This year, Apple opened up the App Store to services that stream games. Examples include Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming (formerly xCloud). This meant that users did not have to resort to a web app on the iPhone and iPad, but despite this, neither Nvidia nor Microsoft have produced a native app for iOS. Microsoft explained this back in mid-February.
At the time, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told The Verge that Apple’s cloud changes were not enough for Xbox, as they did not have the space to monetize Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS. In response to Apple’s proposal, he said only that “you could argue they’re going in the opposite direction in a way, but they’re certainly not open enough to allow competition on the world’s biggest gaming platform,” adding that he’s trying to work with Apple and Google to find some sort of solution.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has told Microsoft that Apple’s App Store changes in January, March, and April are not enough to bring a native Xbox Cloud Gaming app to iOS, as there is still a technical and economic barrier for the Redmond-based company to comply with the rules if they include Xbox Cloud Gaming services on iOS. Apple requires multiplatform services to have all content, subscriptions, and features natively within the app, so they would have to be purchased and paid for within the app.
This, in turn, would require Microsoft to ask third-party developers to recode their games, which could be a significant effort for something that might not even be successful. Meanwhile, Apple says it supports cloud gaming through its web apps, citing two articles from The Verge that talk about improved Xbox Cloud Gaming performance on the iPhone and iPad, with more than 20 million people already using the Redmond-based service on iOS. The Cupertino company added that Microsoft has not contacted them about this, despite repeated attempts to cooperate.
Apple says that developers are not finding it difficult to commit to in-app purchases, citing the example of Antstream, which created the first iPhone game streaming service and offers a total of more than 1,300 retro titles from various companies. The CMA has set a deadline for all affected companies to respond to the market test before the agency’s preliminary assessment in November. The CMA will finalize its assessment in 2025.
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