Microsoft Seeking To Open Mobile Storefront This July

A massive pool of potential consumers can purchase video games on the mobile front. That was a market that Microsoft was seeking to tap into when they acquired Activision Blizzard. However, as we move into this month, it also came with the announcement of several studio closures from the Xbox brand. Today, we’re finding out that while studios are closing down, Microsoft already has a new gaming venture opening up this July. 

Microsoft has spoken before about the mobile marketplace. It’s a giant pool of consumers right now, as we all have smartphones in our pockets. How often do we casually play a time-killer game on our phones? Some consumers don’t play heavy-hitting games due to a lack of consoles or gaming PCs. However, they will play more casual video game experiences, such as Candy Crush, on their phones. 

When Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, it also came with King, a major name for mobile gaming. Thanks to Gamespot, we’re finding out that Xbox president Sarah Bond noted their intentions to open up a storefront this July at the Bloomberg Technology Summit. What we know so far is that this wouldn’t be an app storefront. Instead, it would be accessible through the web. 

Featured at the start will be video games and that can directly compete against Google Play and the Apple App Store. Both of which are the two staple app storefronts for mobile devices. So we’ll have to see just how well the Xbox team can pull this venture off. Again, this was likely a big plan for Microsoft when they acquired King through Activision Blizzard. 

Meanwhile, quite a few gamers are still upset because of the recent closures of studios like Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks. Sarah Bond touched on this during the same summit, and you can read about it in our report right here.