Microsoft’s ambition to offer an Xbox mobile gaming store will finally come true in July. Speaking at the Bloomberg Technology Summit, Xbox president Sarah Bond revealed the launch date and ways in which Microsoft is going to avoid Apple’s strict App Store rules.

“We’re going to start by bringing our own first-party portfolio to [the Xbox mobile store], so you’re going to see games like Candy Crush show up in that experience, games like Minecraft. We’re going to start on the web, and we’re doing that because that really allows us to have it be an experience that’s accessible across all devices, all countries, no matter what and independent of the policies of closed ecosystem stores,” said Bond.

By launching the store on the web, Microsoft will offer an alternative to Apple and Google, which charge a 30 per cent fee on sales.

Microsoft fell behind game industry competitors in entering the $90 billion mobile gaming market. All that has changed: The company’s Xbox unit is set to make a big splash after its $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard, owner of the Candy Crush and Call of Duty.

Microsoft first hinted at a mobile store in 2022 when it announced a deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. In October 2022, Microsoft’s filings with the CMA highlighted that it planned to create a new “Xbox Mobile Platform” that includes mobile games by Activision and King.