Microsoft has publicly criticized the App Store rules Apple announced to permit cloud gaming on iOS, saying the company’s approach forces an impractical experience for players.
Apple’s requirement: one app per game, plus App Store approval
Apple’s proposed framework for cloud gaming on iOS allows services such as Google’s Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud to operate on the platform, but only if each individual game is submitted to and approved by Apple. Under the rules, cloud-streamed titles cannot be launched directly inside a provider’s app. Instead, a service like xCloud would be limited to providing links that send users to the App Store to download a separate app for each game.
How the setup would work in practice
Under Apple’s model, wanting to play a cloud-streamed title such as Gears 5 via xCloud would not open the game inside the xCloud app itself. Players would be directed to download a distinct Gears 5 app from the App Store; that game-specific app would act primarily as a “shell” to reproduce the cloud stream on the phone’s screen.
For services with catalogs of more than 100 games, this approach would require installing more than 100 separate apps—comparable to downloading a different app for every movie on a streaming service or every album on a music platform.
Microsoft calls the user experience “terrible”
Microsoft criticized the requirement in a company statement, saying players expect to jump directly into games from a curated catalog inside a single app, the same way they access films or music without downloading multiple apps. The company added that delivering a great experience for players is central to its mission and implied the App Store rules undermine that goal.
Apple’s likely motive: enforce in-app purchase rules
Observers estimate Apple’s restrictions are intended to prevent game publishers and cloud services from avoiding the App Store’s 30% commission on in-app purchases. If each game is distributed as a separate app—even if that app functions mainly as a streaming shell—those individual apps must comply with App Store policies and payment rules.
Games already constitute the largest portion of App Store revenue, which helps explain Apple’s strict control over how titles are distributed through its store and echoes past disputes such as the one with Epic Games over Fortnite.
Services face a choice
It remains unclear whether Microsoft, Google and others will accept Apple’s conditions to bring xCloud and Stadia to iOS, or whether they will continue to restrict those services to Android. Currently, both xCloud and Stadia are available only to Android users.
