But it remains to be seen if Microsoft can take on Google and Apple.
Microsoft is in the midst of regulatory approvals for its proposed merger with Activision Blizzard. One of the key reasons for the merger, as noted by Xbox head Phil Spencer last summer, was to get Microsoft into the mobile gaming market with King, the forgotten third word in Activision Blizzard’s name. However, it seems that Microsoft’s ambitions go beyond merely having mobile games that print oodles of money–it wants to have its own mobile games store too.
The Verge reports that new details of Microsoft’s mobile ambitions have leaked courtesy of the UK’s CMA investigation into the Activision Blizzard merger. Microsoft plans to not only create the Xbox Mobile Platform but also bring in the Xbox Store. If the Activision Blizzard merger proceeds, it could then offer Call of Duty: Mobile, Candy Crush, and Diablo Immortal on said platform.
The problem for Microsoft is that Apple is still blocking third-party app stores on iOS–at least for now. This is actually one of Microsoft’s key arguments to the CMA to allow the Activision Blizzard merger to proceed, noting that its plan to make a mobile gaming platform would improve competition in the space.
“Microsoft currently has no meaningful presence in mobile gaming and the Transaction will bring much-needed expertise in mobile game development, marketing and advertising,” Microsoft remarked in documents submitted to the CMA. It also remarked how mobile titles made up “more than half of Activision Blizzard’s … revenues in the first half of 2022.”
The CMA, however, seems more focused on the console gaming market even though Microsoft argues that consoles are increasingly losing-out to mobile games in terms of revenue. A graph posted to Microsoft’s website promoting the merger proves it.
Even if the merger goes through, Microsoft is in for a tough fight breaking into the mobile market. Android and iOS have about as firmly entrenched as Steam is in the PC market. That said, Xbox has proved itself to be remarkably successful at getting around entrenched platforms.
