Despite getting the green light last month from the courts that Xbox could sell games directly on its own Xbox App on Android devices, those plans have now been temporarily halted due to another court ruling.
Xbox President Sarah Bond took to social media to make the announcement that their plans to expand to Android have faced a temporary setback.
"At Xbox, we want to offer players more choice on how and where they play, including being able to play and buy games directly from the Xbox app. I recently shared our ambition to unlock these features first with the Google Play Store on Android devices in the U.S. while other app stores adapt to meet consumer demand."
"Due to a temporary administrative stay recently granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned. Our team has the functionality built and ready to go live as soon as the court makes a final decision. We are eager to launch and give more choice and flexibility to players."
Xbox for awhile now has been shifting its strategy from being just a console to being on as many devices as possible. It's recent "This Is An Xbox" marketing campaign has created a bit of a stir online with many liking it while others think it shows Microsoft is out of touch. The ability to sell Xbox games directly on the Xbox App to Android users was supposed to be yet another cog in that wheel.
Interestingly enough, as Bond was announcing this, the FTC was announcing it was launching an antitrust investigation into Microsoft and its dealings. While this likely has more to do with Microsoft's OpenAI program, it is curious timing regardless. As many of you likely know Microsoft was the target of the FTC previously due to its purchase of Activision-Blizzard which finally passed in 2023.
So where this leaves Xbox's plans on Android is anyone's guess. Considering Bond is saying it's an administrative issue this simply could be a temporary snag, or much more. We will simply have to wait and find out.
