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Microsoft is coming for that mobile money, as it confirms it plans to open its own mobile gaming store later this year.
You might assume that the major reason behind Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard would be because of titles like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft, particularly that first one. Well, you’d probably be somewhat right there, but it’s obvious that Microsoft had another aspect in mind: the mobile market. For one, Call of Duty itself is already successful on mobile, but Microsoft also now owns Candy Crush developer King, a mobile title that still rakes in money all these years later. And now, speaking at the recent Bloomberg Technology Summit (paywalled, thanks GameSpot), Xbox president Sarah bond announced that the company plans to launch a mobile gaming store this coming July.
The store will apparently first launch on the web, rather than an app, so that it can be accessed across a broad range of devices, though an app is likely to follow suit. This isn’t the first mention of plans for a mobile gaming store, as Microsoft had mentioned its intention to do so last year following the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which made it easier for companies to open their own digital stores. Bond noted that initially the store will feature games from Microsoft-owned studios, like Candy Crush Saga.
This isn’t a particularly surprising move from Microsoft, though the announcement does follow a slightly surprising one it made earlier this week. Unfortunately, Microsoft made the call to shutter both Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, as well as others, despite the former making the very well received Hi-Fi Rush, and the latter having been forced into making Redfall a live-service title, ultimately leading to the disaster we ended up with. It’s a frustrating move, one more so with Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty saying Microsoft wants more games exactly like Hi-Fi Rush. But hey, enjoy that Candy Crush money, I’m sure it’s worth it.