Last week, Microsoft announced the launch of its Project xCloud game streaming service for Android. While the company’s Xbox Game Streaming app officially comes out of preview next month (September 15, 2020), iPhone users have been clueless about the lack of iOS support. Well, it looks like Microsoft may not be able to bring its Xbox Game Streaming service to iPhone and iPad gamers, courtesy of the Apple App Store.
Microsoft slams Apple’s App Store policies
In a statement, Microsoft said that it does not have a path to bring its vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store.
“Our testing period for the Project xCloud preview app for iOS has expired. Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store.”
Apple in its defense recently clarified its position and involvement in the whole matter. In a statement, Apple spokesperson said the App Store was created to be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers. Apple insists all apps are reviewed against the set of defined guidelines that it says are designed to protect customers and provide a “fair and level playing field to developers.”
In a nutshell, Apple wants each gaming title submitted individually before it can be available to play on an iOS device through Project xCloud. But hey, Microsoft is not the only company to have faced such a problem. Recently, Facebook released its Gaming app on Apple’s App Store without games due to a similar setback from the iPhone maker.’’
Meanwhile, Microsoft has criticized Apple for disallowing Xbox’s cloud gaming app in the App Store.
“Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content.”
Microsoft further assures it will soon find a workaround to bring cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to the iOS platform.
