Xbox boss Phil Spencer says store could launch as soon as next year if regulators clear Activision Blizzard deal
Microsoft is fighting with regulators in the US, Europe and Britain, which have all raised concerns about the potential impact on competition from the owner of the Xbox console buying the developer of, one of the world’s most popular games franchises. PlayStation maker Sony has been a vocal opponent of the deal.
However, Mr Spencer argued that the deal could boost competition in what he called the “largest platform people play on” – smartphones – where Apple and Google operate what some antitrust authorities have called a “duopoly” over distribution of games and other apps. “The Digital Markets Act that’s coming – those are the kinds of things that we are planning for,” he said. “I think it’s a huge opportunity.”
Under the DMA, the EU is expected to designate Apple and Google as “gatekeepers”, requiring them to change the rules that govern how apps are distributed on iPhones and Android devices. However, the big tech companies could appeal against the designation, delaying enforcement beyond next March’s deadline.
While acknowledging it was hard to predict exactly when Microsoft would be able to launch its own store, Mr Spencer said it would be “pretty trivial” for the company to adapt its Xbox and Game Pass apps to sell games and subscriptions on mobile devices. Microsoft’s current lack of mobile games was an “obvious hole in our capability” that it needed Activision Blizzard to fill, he added.
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