Microsoft says Apple’s App Store policies helped delay its planned Xbox mobile storefront, which had a July 2024 target. That is Microsoft’s explanation in a 2025 court filing—not a court finding that Apple alone caused the delay. The available reporting does not establish whether Microsoft later launched or cancelled the store.
Why is the Xbox mobile store delayed?
Microsoft announced plans for a browser-based Xbox mobile storefront and initially targeted July 2024. In a May 2025 brief supporting Epic in its dispute with Apple, Microsoft argued that Apple’s policies had stymied the effort. Microsoft also said the risk that Apple might win a temporary stay while appealing affected the store’s timing, according to The Verge’s 21 May 2025 report.
That account should be understood as Microsoft’s position, not as an independently established explanation or a judicial finding. The filing arose in wider disputes about app-store rules, alternative payments and how software can be distributed on iOS.
Did Apple block Microsoft’s Xbox mobile store?
The evidence here supports saying that Microsoft blamed Apple’s policies for hindering the plan; it does not establish that Apple was the sole cause or that a ready-to-launch store was technically blocked. A storefront for discovering or buying games is also different from a native cloud-gaming app. Arguments about cloud gaming and in-app monetization provide context for the dispute, but do not prove the storefront’s readiness.
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The store’s subsequent status is not established by the cited 2025 report or the later public court docket. Those sources do not confirm a launch or cancellation, so a definite claim about its present availability would go beyond what they show.
How EU rules fit into the dispute
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) changed the rules relevant to alternative distribution, but it is a separate regulatory framework from the US court dispute and the UK submissions discussed below.
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Apple’s gatekeeper obligations
The European Commission designated Apple as a gatekeeper for iOS, the App Store and Safari in September 2023. Apple’s DMA information page also records iPadOS’s later designation in April 2024. The Commission said designated gatekeepers had to comply with the DMA obligations from 7 March 2024. See the Commission’s designation announcement and compliance notice, alongside Apple’s DMA information page.
A separate Commission notice in February 2024 said Apple and Microsoft were not designated gatekeepers for the specific services examined in market investigations: Apple’s iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising. That limited decision does not mean Apple was exempt from its designation for iOS or the App Store. The notice is available from the European Commission.
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The Commission’s App Store concerns
In June 2024, the Commission announced its preliminary view that Apple’s App Store rules prevented developers from freely steering users to alternative channels for offers and content, and opened another non-compliance investigation. These were preliminary views and an investigation announcement, not a final decision. The Commission’s 24 June 2024 announcement describes that step.
Apple said its EU changes included more than 600 new APIs, tools and documentation. That figure comes from Apple’s own developer announcement of 8 February 2024; it is not an independent measure of how open iOS became.
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What Microsoft and Apple argued about cloud gaming
Submissions to the UK Competition and Markets Authority show the companies’ opposing views on iOS cloud gaming. They are party arguments, not neutral findings about the Xbox storefront.
Microsoft’s argument
In a 29 July 2024 submission, Microsoft argued that Apple’s 30% in-app purchase fee made its cloud-gaming service difficult to monetize and that Apple’s rules prevented it from offering different content, subscriptions or features to iOS users. These are Microsoft’s claims in its submission to the UK CMA.
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Apple’s counterargument
Apple’s 7 August 2024 response pointed to Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming web app on iOS and disputed Microsoft’s assertion that browser delivery was not a viable alternative. That is Apple’s counterargument in its response to the UK CMA.
How Epic’s store plan differs
Epic announced in July 2024 that it planned to bring the Epic Games Store to Android worldwide and to iOS in the European Union. That announcement illustrates a route Epic said it would pursue; it does not show that Microsoft launched an equivalent store. Epic also said Apple terminated its developer account in March 2024 after Epic had communicated its intention to bring its store and Fortnite to iOS in Europe. Both points are Epic’s account in its 25 July 2024 announcement.
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