Microsoft has announced that it will open the Microsoft Store, the official Microsoft application store on Windows, to third-party store apps like the Epic Games Store and the Amazon App Store.
In this way, both app stores will be available to all users and applications can be downloaded from them as can be done today. Microsoft states that the reason for this change is to ensure that its terms of business are fair.
In the statement where he announced this launch, we can read:
Our commitment to being an "open store for an open platform" is not limited to the various technical foundations of building applications. It's also about ensuring that our business conditions are fair and help promote innovation.
For example, the Windows Microsoft Store no longer requires application developers to share revenue with Microsoft, when applications manage their own payment systems within the application.
In that spirit, today we are announcing another major update to our Microsoft Store policies on Windows, which will allow third-party store applications to be discovered in the Microsoft Store on Windows.
In the legal battle that has faced Apple and Epic in recent months and from which Apple was victorious, the company that created Fortnite sought that Apple allows third-party app stores to be installed, something that as we all know he did not get, although Epic has filed an appeal and will try to change the judge's decision.
The only victory for Epic was that Apple should allow developers to offer a button or link to their websites where in-app purchase-free payment options are available.
If we take into account that both Google and Microsoft now support options alternatives for installing applications on their platformsThis could influence regulators working on antitrust legislation in the United States and other countries, so that sooner or later, Apple is likely to be forced to change its position.