Microsoft promised exclusive Apple games in exchange for access to the App Store

In 2020, Microsoft and Apple seem close to reaching an agreement, according to reports the edge Based on emails sent in Lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games been detected. Microsoft has been willing to keep up with many of Apple’s demands about a file Xbox Game PassGame broadcast application. Microsoft has even promised to make Xbox games available exclusively for iOS to appease Apple, the CEO now confirms. However, the deal failed.

That’s why iOS users now don’t have an app that allows them to stream Xbox games, unlike Android users. iOS users rely on a Suboptimal web version From the game streaming service. With this service, games in Xbox Game Pass offers can be played without the need for an Xbox or a powerful computer, without downloading and without installation.

Application collection is not allowed

Apple states that game streaming is not allowed under its guidelines. Therefore, Apple is against a so-called bundling app like the one available on Android: a single app that can block all kinds of games.

Microsoft wanted to fix this by creating a special App Store version for every game in its Game Pass offering. This app will be some kind of complicated shortcut: it’s available in the App Store, but the game will still be streamed from Microsoft’s servers.

In-app purchases

The possibility of separate apps was at an advanced stage at the start of 2020, according to internal emails from, among others, Xbox business chief Lori Wright. But then concerns arose at Apple about in-app purchases, for example in-game expansions. Apple was afraid that Microsoft would bypass Apple’s payment system with these purchases, because the games are not technically on the user’s iPhone.

Because of these concerns, there was no Xbox Game Pass app in the App Store, and there are no separate streaming apps for each Xbox game. Apple said in a statement to The Verge that the final refusal was indeed related to in-app purchases.

Karim Chowdhury, CEO of Xbox Cloud Gaming, again denied this and points to the Xbox’s Android app, which has no in-app purchases. The CEO simply stated that Apple “rejected the proposals, leaving us unable to make a coherent offer for Xbox Game Pass”.

Despite the web version of iOS, Microsoft continues to “search for viable solutions that will get us into the App Store,” according to Choudary.