Microsoft has just invited Google to dance with them through New Bing. Now it seems that their ambitions for games may also include various plans to flip mobile games and even the mobile market. Continue reading Why would Microsoft want to bring the Xbox Mobile Store to iOS and Android platforms? (Editor’s opinion) Content of the report.
Why would Microsoft want to bring the Xbox Mobile Store to iOS and Android platforms? (Editor’s opinion)
In the new generation of Microsoft, its strategies for triggering shifts in the technology sector seem to be linked to investing in or even acquiring specific companies?
Following its investment in OpenAI, it will deeply integrate its large-scale language model into Edge/Bing and even Microsoft 365. Foreign media reports not only make Google feel a sense of crisis for its core business of search engine advertising; Microsoft 365 Copilot functional experience, which makes people see Microsoft’s strength in human-computer interface, and may also impress Apple users.
▲Image source: Microsoft
Now, Microsoft’s strategy of using small to make big in specific markets through integration and cooperation may also follow the EU’s policy direction and attack several big players in the existing field of action.(Google: X! Is there something to do with me again!?)。
According to foreign media reports, Microsoft’s big move to acquire Activision Blizzard (Activision Blizzard) may be in the European Union. force Following Apple and Google’s policy of opening up third-party app stores for their mobile system platforms, Microsoft’s third-party app store will be full of Activision Blizzard mobile game lineups such as “Call of Duty: Mobile” and “Candy Crush Saga” as the main products, trying to change the mobile game market.
Previously, after Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, it actually revealed its intention to enter the mobile game platform with the Xbox Games Store. It’s just that at that time, it was generally not felt that Microsoft could gain much advantage over the existing Apple and Google mobile systems – after all, it was originally a relatively closed environment, and it was difficult for the three parties to have a competitive advantage.
However, if countries such as the European Union also promote policies similar to the unified use of USB-C, forcing current major mobile platforms to open third-party app stores and app installation permissions. Perhaps Microsoft, which has no longer taken too many actions in the mobile platform ecosystem after the Windows Phone system, may use the open competition policy of this third-party app store to push the Microsoft ecosystem into mainstream consumer mobile systems.
“We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play,”… “Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up.”
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed in a recent exclusive interview with foreign media Financial Times. Microsoft wants content from Xbox and even third-party partners to be available to anyone who wants to play it on any system screen. But when it comes to the current dilemma that Microsoft cannot do on mobile devices, we look forward to building such an open world in the future. It shows how deeply they expect the major mobile systems to be more open.
That is to say, according to Microsoft, the Xbox Mobile Gaming Store or Microsoft Xbox Mobile Store (or Xbox App Store?) will have two necessary conditions to be met before it can appear in reality.
One is that the EU’s Digital Markets Act really requires Apple and Google to cooperate to become more open – that is, to encourage the freedom of unofficial App Stores to install applications on iOS and Android devices; on the other hand, Activision Blizzard, which is still stuck, must pass – this acquisition has always caused people from all walks of life to have doubts about Microsoft’s possible monopoly on the game market, so there are still many variables.
And since it is currently generally believed that the time for the EU regulations to be drafted may fall next year, foreign media believe that Xbox’s mobile game app store may debut as soon as 2024.
Speaking of which, whether it is to expand the search business through Bing Chat, or to enter with a third party to provide another option for consumer app stores. Microsoft is really in great contrast with the previous era when Windows PC was extremely strong – they all emphasize that their weight in the search and mobile game market is completely insignificant. It is really hard to imagine that this is the giant Microsoft that many people wanted to overthrow.
But if you think about it carefully, Microsoft’s strategy in recent years may have been to specifically target markets that seem difficult to shake.(AKA the opponent is already lying down and making money). With its own resource advantages, through similar Xbox Game Pass In that way, a strategy that if not executed well will result in killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred to oneself, is an attempt to destroy the existing balance of the market and seek opportunities to gain a place in it.
In fact, Google, which is still struggling to find a sustainable business model, is now being pushed by New Bing…
▲Image source: Microsoft
After a stellar move on the New Bing launch strategy that resulted in the stock price seemingly easily offsetting the OpenAI investment. This time, depending on Blizzard’s acquisition plan, Microsoft seems to be preparing to use strong mobile game content to seize the huge share of the two major mobile systems that was originally difficult to shake.
If Microsoft is really focusing on the competition of mobile platforms, I believe that after seeing the recent policy and regulatory trends in the EU, it will feel that it should make every effort to promote such a plan, and hope to ensure that the plan to acquire game content on a large scale can succeed. It’s no wonder that they dare to sign ten-year contracts with various console platforms, including Nintendo, and work hard to ensure that this acquisition will be successful.
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Source: KOCPC Chinese