We previously learned that Microsoft has plans to launch a mobile game store at some point this year, and now the company has shed even more light on when that storefront might launch.Bloomberg reports today that Xbox President Sarah Bond said at the Bloomberg Technology Summit that Microsoft’s mobile gaming store is set to debut this July. The plan, Bond said, is to launch with Microsoft’s own games like Candy Crush Saga before eventually opening up the web store to other publishers. Bond hinted that Minecraft could be an early addition to the storefront.Bond also said the store would debut on the web rather than as an app to be more accessible across various devices and countries. Additionally, Bond told The Verge that the Xbox mobile store would initially emphasize in-game items and game discovery before it expands into an entire storefront. “This web-based store is the first step in our journey to building a trusted app store with its roots in gaming,” Bond explained to The Verge. Microsoft’s mobile gaming storefront will present an alternative to Apple and Google, which currently dominate the app store environment. As Bloomberg notes, Apple and Google “charge an approximate 30% fee on sales.”Candy Crush Saga will be one of the titles available on the Microsoft mobile gaming storefront at launch.Xbox boss Phil Spencer last reaffirmed Microsoft’s commitment to opening a mobile gaming storefront last year, especially as the EU’s Digital Markets Act came into force this past March. That set of European regulations aims to make the digital market landscape “fairer,” and gave tech companies the ability to make their own web stores outside of the Apple and Google ecosystem. “We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play,” Spencer said in an interview with the Financial Times last year. “Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up.”Microsoft’s mobile game story will no doubt rely on content from its Activision Blizzard acquisition, including popular titles like the aforementioned Candy Crush Saga and Call of Duty: Mobile. Microsoft, however, has not revealed any further specifics. Editor’s Note: Story has been updated to include additional information about Microsoft’s upcoming mobile game store.Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
