Even though Microsoft’s plan to bring xCloud to iOS devices could not yield results due to Apple’s policies, however, it is working on an alternate way to bring GamePass to iPhones and iPad by early next year.
In an internal meeting, Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s gaming boss, has reportedly told employees that the company is building a web version of xCloud for iOS devices and is also busy creating an application that it feels can eventually get through the app store policies.
For those unaware, Microsoft recently combined the Xbox Game Pass with Project xCloud, its streaming service, that now allows users to stream games directly to their devices – PC, Console or handheld devices like Mobile and tables. This service comes with a monthly subscription fee like the one present on most OTT platforms and allows gamers and developers access to several games.
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According to the reports Apple wants the game developers to submit their games as an individual app using its streaming tech and wants companies like Microsoft and Google to create a catalogue app that lists all these games. However, Microsoft feels that this could lead to poor customer experience and now wants to bypass the App Store limitations. Incidentally, even Amazon’s Luna Game serve is operating in a similar way for Apple devices.
The story is opposite for the Android operating system though and the Xbox game streaming app is already live on the Play Store. All you need is a $14.99 subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate that gives you access to a host of Game Pass games for your console as well as your PC. You also get Xbox Live Gold for online multiplayer games and discounts on games.
While Apple has not commented on this yet, however, the company has been criticized for its stringent App Store policies and high commission rates. The game streaming service is essentially like an OTT platform streaming web content and when Apple does not control the kind of content being streamed on these platforms, asking Microsoft and Google to have the games directly submitted to the App Store makes little sense.
Microsoft's Phill Spencer, however, “feels good” about the company's iOS progress and is confident that it will “absolutely will end up on iOS.
