Microsoft says its Play Store rival launches in July, won't be an app

Microsoft has long stated its intention to build a mobile app store as an alternative to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It turns out we won’t have to wait too long to see this storefront launching.

Xbox president Sarah Bond confirmed during the Bloomberg Technology Summit that Microsoft would launch a mobile game store in July. The store would launch with Microsoft’s own games before later opening up to other publishers. Microsoft will also offer discounted in-game items for titles like Candy Crush.

Bond added that this would be a web-based store rather than an actual app, allowing it to be “accessible across all devices, all countries, no matter what, independent of the policies of closed ecosystem stores.”

In addition to Candy Crush, the Xbox president said Minecraft could be another title coming to the web-based store early on.

It’s unclear whether Microsoft will offer these games via a download, streaming, or both. For what it’s worth, the company already offers its own Xbox Cloud Gaming service that lets Xbox Game Pass subscribers stream games over the internet to their PC, console, or mobile device.

The announcement also comes after Google and Apple faced extended scrutiny over their own app store duopoly, with the two companies being forced to make changes by various governments.