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Xbox games are coming to Android in a way many have probably hoped for for a while. Soon, you’ll be able to buy Xbox games directly from the Android Xbox app. Microsoft’s President of Xbox Sarah Bond confirmed the upcoming change on X on October 10, noting that Xbox’s mission is to “allow more players to play on more devices.” This has been the case for several years now and it’s a statement that echoes the words of Microsoft’s Head of Gaming, Phil Spencer. Who has repeatedly said that the vision of Xbox is to bring games to as many people as possible on as many devices as possible.
It’s the whole reason Microsoft began developing (and finally launching) the cloud gaming feature for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. So players would have a way to play their favorite games no matter what device they’re using. That mission has never really changed. But why did it take so long for Xbox to allow game purchases from the app?
It might have something to do with how Google runs the Play Store on Android. Whenever a purchase is made through an app, Google takes a cut of that purchase revenue. However, that will be changing following Epic’s big win against Google in court. Last December, Judge James Donato ruled Google’s Play Store was a monopoly.
And just this week, Donato made a final ruling that Google is required to allow third-party app stores within the Play Store. Part of that ruling also stated that Google can no longer force developers to use Google Play billing. That’s where this change from Microsoft and the Xbox team comes in.
Android users can buy Xbox games from the app starting in November
Now that Microsoft won’t be required to use Google Play billing, it will presumably sell games directly to users through its own billing system. The feature will be launching on the Xbox app in November. However, Bond didn’t say when exactly the feature would appear.
We’re nearly halfway through October though, so it most likely won’t be too long.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will no doubt be required
To stream games through the Game Pass app, you need to have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. So it’s reasonable to assume that you will need to be subscribed to Ultimate for streaming games from the Xbox app after purchases as well.
This hasn’t been confirmed but it doesn’t make sense to offer the streaming feature without the membership requirement. Although, maybe it will allow the capability given that people will be buying these games. Whereas with Game Pass, you’re paying for the membership subscription and not actually purchasing the games outright.