Microsoft looks to build a mobile game store with Xbox

The company stated in its filings that “the transaction will enhance Microsoft’s ability to create a next-generation game store that operates on a variety of devices, including mobile, as a result of incorporating Activision Blizzard content.”

Building on Activision Blizzard’s existing player communities, Xbox will look to scale the Xbox Store to mobile devices, bringing gamers to a new Xbox mobile platform.

Mobile games are some of the most popular downloads on the app stores, so it’s no surprise that Microsoft wants in on the action. A graph in Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard takeover site showed that the mobile gaming market was worth $85 billion in 2020.

Microsoft added in its filings with the CMA: “Revenue from mobile games from the King division and titles such as ‘Call of Duty: Mobile’, as well as ancillary revenue, accounted for more than half of Activision Blizzard’s revenue and in the first half of 2022.”

The deal with Activision Blizzard appears to be Microsoft’s answer to developing its mobile gaming presence and competing with rivals Google and Apple.

a difficult game

However, it will not be easy to compete against the tech giants. A study of games made by data.ai and IDC found that, in the first quarter of 2022, consumers spent more than $1.6 billion per week on mobile games on both the App Store and the Google Play Store.