Microsoft blames Apple for Xbox mobile store delays

According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft says Apple's App Store rules are to blame for the continued delay of the Xbox mobile app store it announced last summer. The store would have allowed users to buy Microsoft mobile games through the Xbox web store on iOS. In an amicus brief filed this week, Microsoft expressed support for Epic Games in the companies’ long-running bout against Apple. The company also expressed concern that Apple could succeed in overturning the injunction that has opened the floodgates for payments outside of apps that circumvent Apple's 30 percent fee.

Apple filed an appeal against the injunction earlier this month, and just a few days later it asked the Ninth Circuit to halt enforcement of the original ruling while it works through its appeal. Microsoft, for its part, is urging the court to enforce the injunction while the courts handle the appeal. The company points out that Apple itself has said that the policy changes it made in response to the injunction "can be undone," raising concern that without firm enforcement by the courts, Apple could pull the rug at any given moment.

As of this writing, Microsoft's filing is not yet publicly available, but The Verge has details on the brief’s contents. It reads, in part: "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."

While things are moving quickly, with apps like Fortnite already returning to the App Store in the US, Microsoft remains in a holding pattern awaiting a firm outcome in the case. It seems they want to avoid a situation where the Xbox mobile store is released, only to be taken down should Apple win on appeal.

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