In 2022, Microsoft announced its intention to create its own mobile games store that would compete with the App Store and Google Play. Four years later, the store still hasn't launched, but the corporation assures that the project is alive.
Candy Crush Saga
Head of Xbox Asha Sharma wrote on X that her team has not abandoned this idea. She added that Microsoft is generally interested in the mobile situation and even resumed its involvement three weeks ago in the ongoing legal proceedings between Epic Games and Apple — they sent the judge an "Amicus curiae" letter, sharing their expert assessment of the case. Sharma believes that the mobile games market should be more open, and Microsoft can help achieve that.
Sharma did not specify the current stage of work on the Xbox mobile store.
Recall that Microsoft initially promised to launch its store in July 2024, but then postponed the release to the end of 2024, and eventually delayed it until the suits between Epic Games, Apple, and Google conclude. According to the corporation, when the store finally launches, it will initially feature only their proprietary games like Candy Crush Saga, and only later will titles from third-party developers appear.
As reported by Windows Central journalist Jez Corden, the Xbox mobile store was indeed being developed. It even had a test version, but recently, the URL for the latter is no longer accessible. The disappearance of the webpage from access sparked rumors about the "death" of the project, but judging by Sharma's tweet, those rumors turned out to be false.