Microsoft's new app store pledge preserves its walled garden on Xbox
Microsoft has announced a series of 11 pledges to do with App Store and fair dealing with developers, but won't apply 4 major ones to its Xbox store.
As governments around the world put pressure on Apple and Google over regulating their platforms, Microsoft has announced what it calls "a principled approach to app stores." Specifically done to adapt "ahead of regulation," Microsoft says its 11 principles address its "growing role and responsibility" in the market since its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
"[Too] much friction exists today between creators and gamers," says Microsoft in a blog post, "app store policies and practices on mobile devices restrict what and how creators can offer games and what and how gamers can play them."
"Our large investment to acquire Activision Blizzard further strengthens our resolve to remove this friction on behalf of creators and gamers alike," it continues. "We want to enable world-class content to reach every gamer more easily across every platform."
"Put simply, the world needs open app markets, and this requires open app stores," says Microsoft. "The principles we're announcing today reflect our commitment to this goal."
Of the 11 pledges, Microsoft says only its first 7 will apply to the Xbox store. That means Xbox won't benefit from any of the Developer Choice category.
The pledges in this category all revolve around payment systems, which is key to the major criticisms of Apple and Google.
"[Some] may ask why today's principles do not apply immediately and wholesale to the current Xbox console store," says Microsoft in its blog. "It's important to recognize that emerging legislation is being written to address app stores on those platforms that matter most to creators and consumers: PCs, mobile phones and other general purpose computing devices."
"Emerging legislation is not being written for specialized computing devices, like gaming consoles, for good reasons," it continues. "Gaming consoles, specifically, are sold to gamers at a loss to establish a robust and viable ecosystem for game developers."
Microsoft concludes by saying that "we recognize that we will need to adapt our business model even for the store on the Xbox console," and that it will be "closing the gap... over time."
Read on AppleInsider
As governments around the world put pressure on Apple and Google over regulating their platforms, Microsoft has announced what it calls "a principled approach to app stores." Specifically done to adapt "ahead of regulation," Microsoft says its 11 principles address its "growing role and responsibility" in the market since its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
"[Too] much friction exists today between creators and gamers," says Microsoft in a blog post, "app store policies and practices on mobile devices restrict what and how creators can offer games and what and how gamers can play them."
"Our large investment to acquire Activision Blizzard further strengthens our resolve to remove this friction on behalf of creators and gamers alike," it continues. "We want to enable world-class content to reach every gamer more easily across every platform."
"Put simply, the world needs open app markets, and this requires open app stores," says Microsoft. "The principles we're announcing today reflect our commitment to this goal."
Open App Store Principles
What Microsoft calls its Open App Store Principles, are 11 pledges that fall into four categories:- Quality, Safety, Security & Privacy
- Accountability
- Fairness and Transparancy
- Developer Choice
Of the 11 pledges, Microsoft says only its first 7 will apply to the Xbox store. That means Xbox won't benefit from any of the Developer Choice category.
The pledges in this category all revolve around payment systems, which is key to the major criticisms of Apple and Google.
"[Some] may ask why today's principles do not apply immediately and wholesale to the current Xbox console store," says Microsoft in its blog. "It's important to recognize that emerging legislation is being written to address app stores on those platforms that matter most to creators and consumers: PCs, mobile phones and other general purpose computing devices."
"Emerging legislation is not being written for specialized computing devices, like gaming consoles, for good reasons," it continues. "Gaming consoles, specifically, are sold to gamers at a loss to establish a robust and viable ecosystem for game developers."
Microsoft concludes by saying that "we recognize that we will need to adapt our business model even for the store on the Xbox console," and that it will be "closing the gap... over time."
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
The “robust and viable ecosystem for game developers" argument is such horseshit if you look at where indie developers are actually making money (or rather not making money…) Does anyone buy the idea that MS is soooooo into gaming that it loses billions of $$ on a passion project? (Or that that would be legal, given it’s duty to shareholders.)
I’d argue that MS and others like it intentionally create the economic circumstances that make working for AAA studios the only sad “viable” option for most developers. The only people that are benefiting here are investors.
As for their Open App Store principles, it's obvious that it's mainly about getting access to Apple's hardware and not much else. It's not a coincidence that companies like Epic/Microsoft that were so heavily oriented around PC/consoles are suddenly concerned about gaming on mobile at the same time that mobile gaming now generates more revenue than PC/console gaming combined.
AMD's Zen 4 chips were supposed to launch in November 2021. At this rate AMD will consider themselves lucky if they launch in October 2022, and they have even had to shift some orders to Samsung, just as Intel - who will use TSMC's fabs for some orders in 2023 - considered doing and Nvidia did last year for Ampere GPUs.
The console business model is totally different from the mobile device one. Samsung alone sells more smartphones in 1 year than the entire console industry - Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and the minor players - sells in an entire generation. Yes, the Nintendo Switch sells at a profit. But do you know why? The Nintendo Switch is actually the Nvidia Shield K1 Android tablet from 2015 running the Nintendo 3DS operating system (based on FreeBSD) along with some Android components and Nvidia software. The Nvidia Shield K1 tablet was $200 when it originally launched!
I can see you bashing Microsoft - decades of hate I guess - but you realize that by doing this you are also trashing Sony, whose console costs the same, whose shortages are even worse, and who has nothing to do with these app store battles with Epic Games and regulators. The PlayStation is their last big money hardware product left. The iPod and iPhone killed off the Walkman, boom boxes and the other consumer audio products that were massive for them in the 80s and 90s. Streaming - and streaming boxes - killed off their VHS, DVD and Blu-ray line. They so badly botched their attempts to make Android devices that they don't even bother to distribute more than a few units outside Japan (iPhone 70% market share) anymore. Their TV line is being battered by South Korean and Chinese competition. They are also only "one among many" when it comes to selling headphones (where they get crushed by AirPods) and speakers (getting devalued by smart products from Amazon, Sonos, Google and Apple). And they ditched their PC line ages ago because they could no longer compete with HP, Dell, Lenovo and Apple (Toshiba made the same decision).
If you have some business plan or strategy where Sony could make $200 per unit on the PS5 and still sell enough to make money selling $70 copies of the Spider-Man game go ahead and share it. My guess is that you don't, and you don't care what happens to Sony or the console market so long as Apple gets to keep doing whatever Apple wants. You are probably ROOTING for the console makers to fail so Apple could take their place. Just as pretty much everyone on this site was rooting for Nintento to fail 5 years ago so Apple could buy them and make Mario, Link, Pokemon etc. exclusives on Apple TV (so that people would actually start buying them), iPads and iPhones.
So.. Why do we have to listen to Microsoft then??? Microsoft clearly tried to launch smartphones with their own Window OS, which failed. Their fault. Not Apple´s fault.
Microsoft is giving a lot of BS this time because Microsoft is jealous that AAPL and GOOGL are so successful with their smartphones and smoothly running OS, which Microsoft wished to have.
https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/325504-sony-finally-turns-a-profit-on-499-ps5
Sony's MORE expensive $499 PS5 model became profitable in less than one year.
All your rambling boils down to is saying they’ve failed to make a profitable product so deserve an exception to open app store rules. That simply doesn’t make any sense.
Then trying to make their purchase of activision seem like a benefit for gamers?
Microsoft launched their missive to get regulators to approve their purchase of Activision Blizzard. Regulators are concerned that the studios that Microsoft has bought, XBox and their huge presence in PC gaming and xCloud could allow them to dominate the market. This is Microsoft getting out ahead of the regulators by addressing their most logical line of excuses to prevent the merger in advance. Had Nvidia done the same, they might actually own ARM Holdings by now. If you wait until the regulators voice their objections and THEN try to answer them you have already lost because the regulators have already made up their minds at that point. In the time that it would take the regulators to come up with a new line of attack - if they even want to - Microsoft will have likely closed the deal.
Microsoft only mentioned that consoles have a different business model than everything else in order to justify not opening it up at this time. Still has nothing to do with Apple because unless the Apple TV explodes in market share, like increases it 20 fold, Apple is not in the console market. They are in the general computing market selling devices - macOS, iPadOS, iOS - that have the ability to play games. Like the iPod Touch ... primarily a music player but its ability to play games is a byproduct.
Also the lot of you don't get to define what a console is based on your personal preference for where the iPhone should lay.
It has always been a closed platform of approved apps only, just because you can perform duties which resemble that of a general purpose computer doesn't change that fact.
an iPhone is far more specialized and personal than s console, which does most of what an iPhone does, only the iPhone is far more personal snd private, meaning it should have far greater safeguards.
I don't see it as a desperate move. Instead it's shows a strong commitment to gaming and to expand GamePass library. I don't see how is that a bad thing.
I find impressive how successful MS is without a mobile platform. I don't see why they should have to be jealous of Apple. If that's the case, I suppose Apple is jealous of MS business / enterprise business, right?