The iOS app store war may unexpectedly escalate, with the arrival of Microsoft in this arena. And yes, when I talk about the mobile app store war, I’m referring to the legal battles you’re fighting (and more to come) trying to keep your App Store as the only source for installing software on your devices. , a policy that, given the regulators’ moves, appears to have its days numbered.

That Microsoft has turned the gaming market into one of the company’s strategic pillars It’s something no one can argue with at this point. And given the success they’re having with Xbox Game Pass, it makes sense that they’re constantly looking for ways to expand their reach in that market, whether it’s through game sales, subscription services, and so on.

And which area of ​​the game market has grown the most in recent years? Without a doubt, this applies to smartphones. From the very beginning of the arrival of these devices, one could see their great potential in this regard, and it did not take long for the first games to appear and achieve huge popularity, which in turn translated into huge profits for their creators. Something that only grew exponentially with purchases in the application and subscriptions.

Combining both things, it makes sense that those from Redmond have set this goal and that, as we can read in The Verge, Microsoft is preparing an Xbox mobile game store for Android and iOS. And there is an essential element in these plans that will surely immediately come to your mind. I’m actually talking about the still ongoing Activision-Blizzard-King purchase. And it is that if the company finally becomes its property, Microsoft will add several very successful smartphone titles to its catalog, from classic hits like Candy Crush to the much more recent and hugely popular (and, of course, financially successful) Diablo. Immoral, or Call of Duty: Mobile to mention some of the most important.

With that catalog to which It would be necessary to add Android and iOS games that are already part of Microsoft’s catalog Before the purchase, it makes perfect sense that the company considered offering its own app store, offering the same to users of both platforms, directly without going through the Google and Apple stores. Something that, given the current situation, seems much more feasible in the first case than in the second.

In Redmond, they realize that it will not be easy, Sure. On the one hand, of course, there is the problem of bringing its own store to iOS, although in this sense there are more and more indications that Apple will have to give up the exclusivity it has maintained until now. On the other hand, there is the inertia of users who would have to accept this new store once it is implemented, which again seems to be easier on Android than on iOS.

And there is a third key point, however, which may cause sparks between Microsoft on the one hand and Apple and Google on the other. And it is because this store does not plan to offer only its own games, but also third-party games that wish to be distributed through this new app store. And why do I say sparks can fly here? Well, because Microsoft is considering, according to leaked documents, not charge commissions to developers. Something that would undoubtedly lead to an exodus of many of them to get 100% of the revenue generated by their apps.

This can undoubtedly put the other two companies on a war footing as games today represent a formidable source of revenue for both, something that will be deeply compromised if Microsoft’s plans go ahead.