Microsoft to start selling Xbox games through its own mobile app on Android

Xbox president announced the change after a US court ruling instructed Google to allow rival app stores on its Play Store for Android

Microsoft will soon allow mobile gamers to access Xbox games on their Android smartphones directly through the Xbox mobile app. Xbox president Sarah Bond announced the change on X (formerly Twitter), noting that this development follows a US court ruling to open Google’s mobile store.

“The court’s ruling to open up Google’s mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility,” said Bond. “Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices, so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android.”

Earlier this week, a US judge ruled that Google must allow competitors to distribute their own app stores on the Play Store for Android. This decision was made in the case of Epic Games vs. Google, where Google has been ordered to permit rival app stores on its platform from November 1. The mandate will remain in effect for three years.

Microsoft is among the first companies to act on the ruling. From next month, the company will start distributing Xbox games through its Xbox mobile app for Android. However, it is unlikely that Xbox’s console-level games will run natively on smartphones. Instead, users may be able to purchase a game and stream it via Microsoft’s cloud platform.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced plans to launch a game store for smartphones, aimed at distributing video games from partner developers. Although the dedicated gaming store is not yet available, it is expected to be different from the Xbox mobile app. The anticipated Xbox mobile game store would likely distribute mobile games from Microsoft’s studios, such as Candy Crush, Minecraft, and Call of Duty Mobile, rather than Xbox console games.