Xbox president Sarah Bond has described Apple’s new EU App Store policies as “a step in the wrong direction”.
As we reported yesterday, Apple has faced a deluge of criticism from mobile games execs and the likes of Epic Games and Spotify in the last couple of weeks. After revealing unpopular new policies around alternative payments in the US, last week it revealed new EU App Store terms designed to satisfy the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which comes into force in March.
Now Microsoft has entered the fray, having previously stated publicly that it is actively talking to partners about launching an Xbox app store. Last night Xbox president Sarah Bond reposted a thread from Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, adding her own rather more carefully-worded criticism:
“We believe constructive conversations drive change and progress towards open platforms and greater competition. Apple’s new policy is a step in the wrong direction. We hope they listen to feedback on their proposed plan and work towards a more inclusive future for all.”
Bond was reposting a thread in which Ek said Apple had “behaved badly for years” and described the new EU App Store terms as “a new low, even for them”. Ek also describes the tech giant’s treatment of developers as “extreme abuse”.
If Microsoft does press on and launch its own Xbox App Store in the EU, it must request special entitlement, comply with Apple’s guidelines and pay Apple’s new ‘Core Technology Fee’, which is €0.50 per install of the store per year. Every app developer within the Xbox App Store would also have to sign up to the new terms and be subject to the per-install Core Technology Fee as well, which would severely limit its potential.
As we wrote recently, Microsoft is arguably the only other tech giant with the know-how, game catalogue and scale to disrupt mobile’s store duopoly. With the addition of Activision, Blizzard and in particular King to its portfolio, it now has a mobile game catalogue that includes Candy Crush Saga, COD: Mobile, Diablo Immortal and more.
Epic Games is also expected to enter the app store race soon. It said last week that it will launch the Epic Games Store – and headline act Fortnite – in the EU this year. It’ll be the first time Fortnite will be playable natively on iOS since it was kicked off Apple’s App Store in 2020, though Epic acknowledged it still has to “figure out the regulatory timeline”.
