Microsoft to Launch Mobile Game Store, Vying with Apple, Google

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2 points·fidotron··5 comments

> Bond says the store is launching on the web, versus an app, so it’s “accessible across all devices, all countries, no matter what, independent of the policies of closed ecosystem stores.”

It's been a while since Ive owned Apple stuff, so this may be a dumb question. How would this work for installing on iOS/iPadOS? Can anyone sideload now?

I thought Apple was pretty locked down on what users can install, well, outside of the new EU rules.

This struck me as odd too.

I would guess it may involve cloud play for subscription games and . . . Big maybe . . . a webified candy crush? It is technically possible, whether you would want to do it is something else.

>webified candy crush

I wonder how successful it would be. Do people want to play games through browsers still? I mean, if candy crush is still available through app stores, how many people would use the MS webified version? I don't see a lot of people giving up an app for a website version of the game.

If apps can't be installed on iOS/iPadOS through the MS store, maybe all the games will be available browser-based through WASM, but that's a fairly heavy task and I dont know how well it would work. I haven't played around with WASM enough to know.

My understanding is that in the EU at least, Apple is required to allow web based installs of apps for companies that meet their criteria.

Some addition details here: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/12/24098334/apple-ios-web-di...

I'm aware of the EU changes, but I don't think non-EU iOS users would be able to take advantage of the web store. That sort of cuts down the MS non-EU market for iOS, but I assume MS will keep their iOS apps in store until something changes so they won't miss much.

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