Microsoft condemns Apple’s App Store policies

Microsoft is now rebuking Apple over its stringent developer restrictions and its stance on cloud gaming apps, which the iPhone maker does not allow on the App Store for apparent “violations” of its guidelines. A statement attributed to a Microsoft spokesperson said, “Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.” Back in March, Bloomberg reported Apple offering a very similar justification when questioned about potential antitrust issues related to Apple’s Arcade game subscription service, which the company operates despite the headaches its competitors face trying to do the same.

Apple elaborated on its controversial position to not allow services like Microsoft’s upcoming xCloud and the competing Google Stadia platform to exist on the App Store because the company cannot review individual games available on cloud platforms. A number of other App Store guidelines also bar cloud services from existing on iOS unless they are designed more like remote desktop software. But Apple has finally come out and said, in a statement to Business Insider, that these kinds of cloud services are in violation of App Store guidelines and cannot, in their current forms, ever exist on iOS. The primary reason: they offer access to apps Apple can’t individually review.

Here’s the official Apple statement:

The App Store was created to be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for all developers. Before they go on our store, all apps are reviewed against the same set of guidelines that are intended to protect customers and provide a fair and level playing field to developers.

Our customers enjoy great apps and games from millions of developers, and gaming services can absolutely launch on the App Store as long as they follow the same set of guidelines applicable to all developers, including submitting games individually for review, and appearing in charts and search. In addition to the App Store, developers can choose to reach all iPhone and iPad users over the web through Safari and other browsers on the App Store.

Microsoft says Apple is denying consumers the benefits of such technology through unfair enforcement of its App Store rules. It also accuses Apple of treating gaming apps unfairly while allowing other media services to exist on the platform even when they “include interactive content,” a nod it sounds like to Netflix’s inclusion of interactive programming akin to text adventure games like last year’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.  “Our testing period for the Project xCloud preview app for iOS has expired. Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in an interview with The Verge. The company also alleges that Apple “consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content.”

Here is Microsoft’s full statement:

Our testing period for the Project xCloud preview app for iOS has expired. Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store. Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content. All games available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog are rated for content by independent industry ratings bodies such as the ESRB and regional equivalents. We are committed to finding a path to bring cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to the iOS platform. We believe that the customer should be at the heart of the gaming experience and gamers tell us they want to play, connect and share anywhere, no matter where they are. We agree.

Microsoft goes on to say that it’s interested in making xCloud and its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription available on iOS devices. It also references the ESRB and other regional equivalents to the US video game rating board as evidence that Apple could use third-party content evaluations in deciding whether to allow cloud gaming apps onto iOS. But as it stands right now, it doesn’t appear like Apple is willing to play ball. “All games available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog are rated for content by independent industry ratings bodies such as the ESRB and regional equivalents,” Microsoft says, implying that it believes that review should be sufficient rather than having Apple apply its own policies to each individual game. (Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers access to over 100 titles.) “We are committed to finding a path to bring cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to the iOS platform,” the statement goes on to say, though it’s unclear what exactly that path will be, given the impasse.

—
Photo Credit:  Bloomicon / Shutterstock.com