Some of you may remember that back in 2024, Microsoft had every intention to launch its own mobile app store to "shift consumers away" from Apple & Google - but we're here in 2025 with no such storefront, with that move seemingly being delayed by the iPhone maker.
With fresh details coming from The Verge, Microsoft has pledged its support to Fortnite maker Epic Games and its own fight with Apple - by filing an 'amicus brief' that explains Microsoft's issues with the company as well. In short, the Xbox owner says that Apple has "stymied" its ability to launch a store without paying significant fees for transactions.
We'll throw Microsoft's full brief on this down below:
"The district court’s injunction allows Apple to maintain its in-app exclusivity but at least should have enabled Microsoft to offer consumers a workable solution by launching its own online store — accessible via link-out — for in-app items to be purchased off-app and used in games or other apps. And that is what Microsoft wants to do. But even this solution has been stymied by Apple.
Prior to the district court’s most recent order, Microsoft had been unable to implement linked-out payments (or even inform customers that alternative purchase methods exist) because of Apple’s new anti-steering policies that restrict Microsoft’s communication to users and impose an even higher economic cost to Microsoft than before the injunction."
From what we can tell, these restrictions are in the midst of changing, and companies should be allowed to process their own in-app payments thanks to a recent court ruling that sided against Apple. This has led to Epic managing to get Fortnite back on the app store, and we'd expect Microsoft to do the same with its Xbox mobile store soon. It isn't stopping MS from blaming Apple for the delay in the meantime, though.
Last August, Xbox announced that it had been testing its mobile app store after an accidental reveal through the Xbox Insider program - but we haven't heard too much on its progress since. We can't lie and say that we understand everything that these court orders and filings relate to, but it does seem that progress is being made - and we may well see Xbox's mobile app store go live on iOS (and indeed Android) in the near future.