Apple: Cloud games won’t appear on iOS

Apple made such a statement today. The company doesn’t like that services like Google Stadia and Microsoft xCloud give players access to applications that it can’t check for compliance with the rules.

“The App Store was created to be a safe and secure place for customers and a great business opportunity for developers,” Apple explains. “Any services can be launched in the App Store only if they comply with the general rules. This includes submitting games for approval separately and their appearance in the charts and search results.”

The day before, Microsoft said that it had not figured out how to transfer xCloud to iOS. In the absence of a solution, the company shifts part of the responsibility to Apple, which is not ready to meet her.

“Apple is the only platform that deprives consumers of access to cloud games and subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass. And its attitude to applications is not always fair: softer rules apply to non-gaming applications, even with interactive content,” Microsoft reports.

Also, Microsoft does not see the need for additional reviews of games from Apple. On xCloud, I get only those titles that have already been checked by various regulators.

“All games from the Xbox Game Pass catalog have been evaluated by independent rating agencies, such as the ESRB and its regional counterpart. We will try to find a way to launch xCloud and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate so that the gamer remains at the center of the gameplay.”

Despite Apple’s tough stance, Microsoft is not ready to give up. Representatives of the company say that they will continue to look for a way out of a situation that does not suit them at all.

Google has not yet commented on Apple’s words.

But Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney reacted to them. He believes that if you literally understand Apple’s policy, it can turn against games like Fortnite, Minecraft or Roblox, because they have a cross-platform ecosystem.

Apple has never been enthusiastic about cloud services before. Testing xCloud on iOS was much more modest than on Android: one game instead of 80 and only 10,000 testers.

Valve‘s Steam Link cloud service also faced difficulties launching on iOS, but was able to “bypass the system”. He had to prove to Apple that this is a “remote desktop based on a local network”, and not a service for “games in the cloud”, at the same time removing the ability to buy games on Steam from the application.

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