Microsoft to Bring Xbox Games to Android

Thanks to Google’s epic loss in Epic v. Google, Microsoft will let Android users play and purchase Xbox games on their devices.

“The court’s ruling to open up Google’s mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility,” Xbox president Sarah Bond wrote on Threads today. “Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android.”

Today, the Xbox app on Android is pretty tame: Xbox users can communicate and share with their friends on Xbox, view Xbox Game Pass titles, remotely install games to their Xbox consoles, and view library content like captures, games, and consoles. But thanks to Google being forced to open up the Google Play Store and the Android app ecosystem, it looks like that’s about to change.

Unfortunately, Bond’s statement is all we have to go on for now. Purchasing games is obvious enough, and Microsoft did say this past summer that it was working on a web-based mobile game store. But it’s not clear what it means to play Xbox games on Android, exactly. Will these be native Android games?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Or, not: Google has appealed the verdict in this case and would like to delay the implementation of the final ruling that was handed down earlier this week.