While Apple gave the go ahead for cloud gaming apps on the iOS App Store earlier this year, we haven’t exactly seen a flood of cloud gaming service apps hit the store (only retro gaming cloud service Antstream comes to mind). Microsoft recently told UK regulators that the reason it hasn’t brought Xbox Cloud Gaming to the App Store due to Apple’s rules being too restrictive.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which is investigating mobile browsers and cloud gaming, put out a call for comments and Microsoft responded in late July (via The Verge) and said [PDF] that while cloud gaming apps are allowed, there are still multiple rules that cloud gaming apps can’t comply with.
In relation to the market for distribution of web apps on iOS devices, Microsoft reiterates its prior comments regarding the inferior functionality of, and the difficulties end users have discovering and accessing, web apps (compared to native iOS apps). That inferior functionality is in large part the result of Apple’s WebKit requirement and the fact that Apple does not permit web apps to access iOS and device hardware features and functionality that are accessible to native apps.
Beyond the restrictions that the WebKit requirement imposes on the development of web apps, Apple’s App Store policies do not allow the development of distribution channels outside the App Store which could facilitate access to and take-up of CGSs. In particular, given the discoverability and accessibility limitations of web apps, the prohibition of alternative iOS app stores represents a major barrier to take-up. As noted by the CMA, “app stores are a gateway between mobile device users and app developers”. In the case of iOS devices, this gateway role is exacerbated by Apple’s conduct as a result of which iOS users are not habituated to discovering apps outside the App Store.
Microsoft says Apple 30% commission “makes it impossible” for Microsoft to monetize its cloud gaming service, and it is not “economically sustainable nor justifiable.”
While Google also submitted a separate document in the UK, and it simply attempts to convince regulators to focus on Apple’s App Store and not its Google Play app store.
Apple has issued a responding statement saying that it “supports and encourages” cloud gaming services on iOS, and points to successful cloud gaming services like Antstream. Apple suggested that regulators reconsider due to its support for cloud gaming, which was launched after the investigation was in progress.
The UK will take all of these comments, as well as comments from other parties into account when making a decision in the ongoing investigation.