Phil Spencer gave the gaming community major hint at Microsoft’s next mobile gaming venture at the CCXP comics and entertainment convention in Brazil.
According to Spencer, Microsoft is in talks with partners to launch a mobile gaming store. Microsoft has shown a growing interest in mobile gaming, most exemplified by the recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard and it’s development of cloud gaming technology for Xbox games
“It’s an important part of our strategy and something we are actively working on today not only alone, but talking to other partners who’d also like to see more choice for how they can monetize on the phone,’’ said Spencer.
An Xbox Mobile gaming store could easily be a major competitor in the mobile gaming market, a sentiment that Spencer clearly agrees with, especially with the addition of popular Activision mobile titles like Candy Crush. While the potential revenue that could be generated from tapping into that market played a large role in this potential store launch, relevance for the Xbox brand was another huge deciding factor for Spencer.
“…We’ve talked about choice, and today on your mobile phones, you don’t have choice,’’ he continued. “To make sure that Xbox is not only relevant today but for the next 10, 20 years, we’re going to have to be strong across many screens.
There’s no exact release date for Xbox’s mobile gaming store. That said, Spencer noted that its release could be sooner than people would expect though he wouldn’t give an exact timeframe.