Microsoft is taking another step towards mobile gaming with plans to sell titles within the Xbox app on Android later this year.
The news was broken in a social media post from Xbox president Sarah Bond, who said players would be able to buy and play games directly from the app. Details regarding which titles will be offered have not been disclosed, but the introduction of game sales will “begin in November.”
It’s also unclear if this has anything to do with Microsoft’s plans to launch its own mobile app store. The marketplace was originally scheduled to launch this summer with first-party titles like Candy Crush and Minecraft.
Microsoft’s mobile store could be separate from the Xbox app, considering Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer said in December that the store was being developed with an unnamed partner. , potentially on a larger scale.
Bond linked the introduction of game sales to the Xbox app to a recent US court ruling opening up Google Play to rival app stores. We spoke to experts who say these changes will have minimal impact on mobile market trends.
