Earlier this month, a US court required Google to open up its Play Store, requiring a number of changes from November 1. Now, Microsoft has announced some major changes to its Xbox app for Android.
Sarah Bond, the president of Xbox, revealed on Twitter that the Xbox app will soon let players buy and play Xbox games on their Android phones and tablets. This will start happening next month. Until now, the app only allowed streaming games that were part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription.
It’s strange that Xbox games couldn’t already be purchased in the app. Other big apps like PlayStation and Steam have no problem with this. And Microsoft won’t have to give Google a cut of the sales either.
The good news is that these changes come right after Playstore’s ruling. The court said Google needs to be more open with app store purchases. Now Microsoft and other developers can sell digital items in their Android apps without Google taking a percentage.
Seeing updates to apps like Xbox is exactly what many people were hoping for with this new ruling. It will be exciting to watch if Amazon updates the Kindle app next to let readers buy ebooks directly too, without Google’s fees.
Overall, this is a huge win for Xbox fans on Android. Being able to directly buy the hottest new games right in the app will make gaming on the go even more convenient. With even more updates likely coming to other popular apps, Android users everywhere benefit from a more open mobile market.
