Microsoft built a redesigned Xbox app for Android that would enable in-app purchases and remote play, but the company cannot release it because a U.S. court has issued a temporary administrative suspension affecting changes to the Google Play Store.
Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, said on X that the team has completed the functionality and is ready to launch, but the rollout is on hold pending a final court decision. “Due to a recently granted temporary administrative suspension by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned,” she wrote.
What the court order blocks
- The suspension is connected to a U.S. judicial decision that temporarily prevents specified changes to the Play Store from taking effect;
- Google sought the suspension to stop the new rules from coming into force;
- The rules were slated to begin on November 1 and would have required Google to open the Play Store to third-party app stores and permit alternative billing systems for developers.
Those planned changes would allow developers to offer alternative payment methods and enable other app stores on Android. Because the suspension is in place, Microsoft cannot roll out the Xbox app’s new purchasing and remote-play features for Android users.
How this affects Xbox Cloud Gaming and purchases
Microsoft already provides Xbox Cloud Gaming through Xbox Game Pass, which supports remote play. Under the current Play Store policies affected by the court action, purchases tied to Android apps must use Google’s billing system.
As a result, the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience on Android remains limited: Microsoft is currently offering the service through the Samsung Galaxy Store instead of the Google Play Store, and the wider Android release that would allow phone-based purchases and remote play is paused until the court resolves the matter.
