Microsoft ends its xCloud game streaming test on iOS devices, says it had to limit the app to one game and 10,000 testers “to comply with App Store policies”
Apple's App Store policies appear to be holding xCloud back — Microsoft has ended its xCloud game streaming test for iOS devices today.
Related Coverage
- Microsoft stops testing xCloud on iOS devices: Here's why Laptop Mag · Rami Tabari
- Microsoft ends cloud streaming beta for iOS, preps Android-only launch ↦ Six Colors · Dan Moren
- Future of Project xCloud on iPhone/iPad in Doubt Thurrott · Paul Thurrott
- Microsoft Prematurely Ends xCloud Testing On iOS GameSpot · Alessandro Barbosa
- Xbox Project xCloud for iOS in deadlock, as testing comes to a halt Windows Central · Matt Brown
- Microsoft Ends Project xCloud Testing on iOS Because of Apple Retrictions WinBuzzer · Luke Jones
- Microsoft has ended Project xCloud testing on iPhones and iPads OnMSFT.com · Laurent Giret
- iPhones and iPads probably won't support xCloud Xbox game streaming TechRadar · James Rogerson
- Xbox's Project xCloud Unlikely to Launch on Apple Products Game Rant · Kyle Viveiros
- Microsoft's xCloud delayed on iOS as testing halted Engadget · Steve Dent
- Microsoft xCloud game streaming might not launch on iOS after all SlashGear · JC Torres
Discussion
-
@tomwarren
Tom Warren
on x
Microsoft's xCloud app on iOS is dead and no longer works. The test builds expired today. I've asked Microsoft what's going on, but it doesn't look encouraging for xCloud on iOS. The xCloud preview was supposed to end on September 11th. https://twitter.com/...
-
@svegvari
Steve Vegvari
on x
Unfortunately, there is a lot that's out of Microsoft's hand at this point. Apple's App Store policies prevent xCloud from flourishing. I can't see the two companies striking a deal anytime soon as Apple is continuing to build Apple Arcade. https://twitter.com/...
-
@_zouhir
Zouhir
on x
On regressive and absurd platform policies: Microsoft xCloud, Google Stadia and GeForce Now are all unavailable on iOS because “App Store guidelines ban services that rely on streaming games from the cloud” 😐. https://www.macrumors.com/...
-
@caro_milanesi
Carolina Milanesi
on x
Um I guess Apple is pretty confident people might not considered alternative hardware just cause they cannot xCloud or Stadia but considering how many iOS users have PCs it might just mean engagement time shifts which is never a good thing https://twitter.com/...
-
@pierce
David Pierce
on x
So many Apple policies suck for developers but don't make THAT much difference to users, so Apple gets away with it. But “you can't participate in the future of games” feels like a reason people might not buy iPhones https://twitter.com/...
-
@mishaalrahman
Mishaal Rahman
on x
Yeah, this is why I feel Android is the better mobile OS for gaming. Not that Android is great for games or the Play Store has a better selection of mobile games... But there are more specialized devices, gaming features, and now, access to cloud gaming. (Don't forget emulators!)…
-
@blondenerd
Brittney Brombacher
on x
Oh man, this is a bummer. https://twitter.com/...
-
@stroughtonsmith
Steve Troughton-Smith
on x
Microsoft wants to offer a Netflix of streaming Xbox games, which would otherwise have no other path to come to iOS. Should be a no-brainer — but because these are games, vs movies/TV shows, Apple won't let them in the App Store. What consumer benefits from this?
-
@kiggle
@kiggle
on x
@gruber The reason I say ‘horseshit’ is because if Netflix is allowed, why isn't this? And you've articulated better than anyone how questionable Netflix' situation is. But even *that* would be far better than nothing! I'll accept if I can't even see a ‘sign up’ link, but can sti…
-
@dinabass
Dina Bass
on x
@tomwarren This to be clear is one of the main reasons Microsoft has been raising antitrust complaints about the Apple App Store recently.
-
@jamiemoranuk
Jamie Moran
on x
I'm an iPhone user, and Apple is in the wrong tbh https://twitter.com/...
-
@gruber
John Gruber
on x
@kiggle I would say that a service that acts as an app store would be a banned category even under a very liberal re-thinking of App Store rules.
-
@gruber
John Gruber
on x
@kiggle I can see why folks aren't happy about it but I don't think it's horseshit. Do you think Microsoft would let Apple Arcade on Xbox? Or PlayStation's streaming thing? Or Steam?
-
@so_kurrupt
Kurrupt Gaming
on x
This won't hurt Apple at all but some gamers may consider other devices to take xCloud into consideration. https://twitter.com/...
-
@daniel_rubino
Daniel Rubino
on x
@MujBadr @mattjbrown That's ... a bunch of malarky. How do you want MS to “push” Apple? What leverage do they have? Threaten to pull Office apps? That'd hurt MS more than Apple. https://twitter.com/...
-
@reneritchie
Rene Ritchie
on x
@kiggle @gruber @jsnell @jdalrymple @viticci I believe there's a long-standing rule about not having app stores within the App Store. Because there's no way to guarantee the security of second layer apps. A lot of this is a decade old and never imagined streaming, so it needs to …
-
@stroughtonsmith
Steve Troughton-Smith
on x
Microsoft has spent years building up to xCloud, yet they're going to be locked out of half the mobile market for no good reason thanks to the App Store guidelines. This is just one of the many reasons they're collaborating with the antitrust investigation into Apple
-
@ztlaidlaw
Zach Laidlaw
on x
Remember when everyone complained that #Stadia wasn't available for #iOS? Turns out, #xCloud is facing the same hurdle. Guess it wasn't Google's fault after all. 😏 #TeamStadia #CloudKings https://www.macrumors.com/...
-
@marc_irl
Marc Watson
on x
I've bought into the iOS ecosystem for the last ten years, I love the clean simplicity of it all, but the reasons for switching to a more open system are slowly ticking up. https://twitter.com/...
-
@dhh
@dhh
on x
Monopoly harm eventually moves all the way up until the point where customers are held hostage. How is Apple customers better off from being cut off from xCloud? They're not. It's consumer harm. https://twitter.com/...