Microsoft will still launch xCloud on iOS in 2021, bypassing Apple's restrictions

Microsoft has found a way to circumvent Apple’s restrictions on cloud gaming. xCloud streaming service will appear on iOS next year as a browser application, bypassing the App Store.

“We will definitely get to iOS,“ Phil Spencer said at Microsoft’s general meeting last Wednesday. To do this, the company had to develop a web version of xCloud – Amazon did the same last month, releasing the Luna cloud gaming service in the form of PWA.

Previously, Apple banned the release of apps for streaming games like Google Stadia and GeForce Now in the App Store. She argued that such services can spoil the user experience, since the company does not have the ability to moderate third-party applications.

In September, Apple formally lifted the ban. She made a number of changes to the list of App Store rules, which in theory allow cloud gaming services to appear on iOS. According to the new guidelines, each game should be submitted separately for review, and applications like xCloud become a kind of catalogs with links to individual titles in the App Store.

Of course, Microsoft was dissatisfied with this policy. “Apple is the only platform that deprives consumers of access to cloud games and subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass,” said Phil Spencer.

The example of Luna and xCloud shows that the release of web applications is now almost the only way out of this situation. At the same time, Android users have been free to stream games from Game Pass to their smartphones since last month.

Spencer also spoke about the prospects of the PC as a platform for cloud gaming and services like Game Pass. Microsoft will launch xCloud on Windows 10 next year.

Also on the topic:

• Newzoo: revenue of the cloud gaming market will exceed $500 million by the end of the yearEA Play subscription will be included in the Xbox Game Pass
• Free-to-play games on Microsoft consoles are in fact not free
• Is there any news?