Microsoft and Apple play cat and mouse. Xbox streaming games have been playable on Android devices for a year using the xCloud app. Apple banned the app for not being able to "control" the content of the games on the platform.
Now Microsoft returns to the load offering its playful platform to iPhone and iPad users simply through Safari itself or compatible web browser. Let's see now how Apple reacts….
Microsoft just launched its streaming gaming platform xCloud for iPhone and iPad users. The novelty is that no specific application is necessary, since it is played through any web browser. At the moment, it is in beta.
Starting tomorrow, Microsoft will begin sending invitations to selected members of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to test the limited beta of Xbox Cloud Gaming for iPhone, iPad, and Windows 10 PCs using a web browser. Invitations will be issued continuously to players from 22 different countries.
The new streaming gaming platform will be available at xbox.com/play, and will run on Safari, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Microsoft plans to "quickly retire" its first beta testing phase, and to open up to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in the coming months. The games can be played through a controller or touch controls on the screens of the devices.
Block by Apple
This is what xCloud looks like in a browser.
A year ago that Microsoft is after Apple users to be able to offer them this service. His project had a serious setback by not being able to launch an application for it in the App Store. Apple's App Store rules prohibit apps from streaming multiple games from the cloud through a single app.
This is because Apple believes that not being able to review each game in the library of the streaming service is a potential risk to the safety of its users. Game Pass streaming would only be viable if each game was available as its own app under Apple's rules.
It's a very poor excuse on Apple's part for not encouraging competition from its Apple Arcade. Well that allows applications from other types of platforms, such as Netflix, for example, without being able to control its content.
The point is that it seems that Microsoft has been able to circumvent that "blocking" by Apple, and we can enjoy the platform's games on our iPhones and iPads, and above all, through Safari, Apple's native browser.
Now we only have wait for the beta phase to finish, to be able to enjoy more than one hundred Microsoft games on our devices designed in California.