According to the emails between Microsoft and Apple executives disclosed by The Verge, Microsoft agreed to Apple’s many requirements for the operation of the system, especially that it must be on the App Store to accept supervision and in-app purchases. With a rake, agreed to introduce Xbox games to the Apple platform.
Microsoft informed Apple that it will launch Xbox exclusive AAA games on the iPhone, and these games will run on the Xbox Cloud Gaming platform. This means that if they reach an agreement, iPhone users can play high-end Xbox games on their mobile devices.
Allegedly, Apple hopes that Microsoft will submit each game to the App Store separately for supervision and review, rather than providing games on an all-encompassing cloud gaming platform. Microsoft initially had reservations about doing so because the workload would create a negative customer experience, but it has now agreed that they can submit each game to the Apple App Store while linking to their catalog application.
Lori Wright, head of business development at Microsoft, told the Apple App Store team that Xbox games on the iPhone are an exciting opportunity for iOS users. Although the negotiations between Microsoft and Apple were close to reaching an agreement, it ultimately failed. Xbox Cloud Gaming was not released as a standalone application on the App Store, but a web platform that does not need to comply with App Store rules.
Microsoft told The Verge website that Microsoft wants a single streaming media technology application to support its single game application, but Apple wants each game to include a complete streaming media stack.
We recommend introducing the game through a single application in order to comply with App Store policies. Apple rejected our request because we requested a single streaming media technology application to support a single game application, as stated in the original email.
Kareem Choudhry, chief vice president of Xbox Cloud Gaming, said in an interview with The Verge: From a support and engineering perspective, it is unrealistic to force every game to include our streaming technology stack. Will bring a very negative experience to users.
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The email also indicated that the failure of the transaction was mainly due to Apple’s concerns about in-app purchases in Microsoft games (the App Store has a 30% commission). App Store game manager Mark Grimm wrote in an email describing the negotiations with Microsoft: Their recommendation for iap is still that they handle all iap on the existing system and settle with us (real-time or monthly).
Apple told The Verge that the transaction did fail due to in-app purchase requirements. Apple spokesperson Adam Dema said in a statement: Unfortunately, the xCloud version proposed by Microsoft does not comply with our app store review guidelines, especially requiring the use of additional features for in-app purchases.
Kareem Choudhry, chief vice president of Xbox Cloud Gaming, said that in-app purchases are not the problem, but Apple rejected many suggestions from Microsoft on how to implement Xbox Cloud Gaming. He said: Apple rejected our proposal, and we were, therefore, unable to distribute cohesive Xbox Game Pass products through the App Store.
For Google Stadia, Google chose a web-based system, so it is not required to comply with App Store rules.