☕ Good morning! I’ll be heading to the US next month for a work trip and it turns out I’ll have to pass through colleague C Scott Brown’s town. We’re doing lunch, which is great because we haven’t seen each other since CES 2020!

Microsoft’s mobile gaming store push

Xbox maker Microsoft is still trying to convince regulatory bodies to give it the green light for its Activision Blizzard acquisition. But it turns out that Microsoft documents given to the UK’s competition watchdog have revealed plans for a mobile gaming store.

What do the documents say?

• “Xbox will seek to scale the Xbox Store to mobile, attracting gamers to a new Xbox Mobile Platform,” read an excerpt spotted by The Verge.
• “Shifting consumers away from the Google Play Store and App Store on mobile devices will, however, require a major shift in consumer behavior.”
• The company says it hopes “that by offering well-known and popular content, gamers will be more inclined to try something new.” 

What does this actually mean?

• It’s pretty clear that Microsoft is planning a mobile app store then. But what could this “well-known and popular content” be?
• Activision-Blizzard indeed offers two mobile juggernaut franchises in Call of Duty Mobile and the Candy Crush series.
• These two franchises would likely form the backbone of an Xbox mobile gaming push, along with Diablo Immortal.
• But this acquisition also opens the door for other IPs to get more mobile love, such as Crash Bandicoot, Overwatch, and Starcraft.
• On a semi-related note, I previously wrote about a few Activision Blizzard franchises we’d like to see revived on Xbox.

Will an Xbox mobile game store work?

• There’s no shortage of solid third-party app stores, but third-party stores that can actually make a dent in Apple and Google’s stores? Yeah, about that.
• The most successful alternative might be the Amazon Appstore, but even this store pales in comparison to the App Store and Play Store.
• Amazon is also able to pre-install the store on its tablets in lieu of the Play Store. But that’s only translated to comparatively modest success.
• Perhaps the closest comparison right now is Netflix, as it offers a few dozen games as a value-added extra to its subscribers. 
• However, CNBC reported earlier this year that Netflix games have 1.7 million users. That’s less than 1% of its total subscribers.

There’s also the question of how Microsoft would implement a mobile game store on Apple’s more restrictive iOS platform. And I wonder whether Microsoft is only presenting this idea to paint itself as a brave entrant wanting to break up a duopoly.

• I wouldn’t be surprised if the company follows in the footsteps of other companies seeking regulatory approval and doesn’t actually follow through.
• Still, the Netflix route seems like the safest bet for an Xbox mobile game store. Subscribe to Game Pass and get access to mobile games/perks too.

Roundup

📉 There’s more evidence that the iPhone 14 Plus is a sales dud (Android Authority).

🔐 Here’s when Pixel 7 owners will get free Google VPN: A Google support document has given us a rough launch window (Android Authority).

🎨 Wallpaper Wednesday is here once again: These Team AA and reader shots make for great wallpapers (Android Authority).

🛰️ Starlink unveils airplane internet service: The company is promising speeds of up to 350Mbps per plane and latency as low as 20ms. We’ll have to wait to see if this is indeed representative of the real-world experience (Ars Technica).

📱 Android 13 Go launched: Android Go gets some overdue features, such as Material You and the Google Discover screen. Expect increased minimum requirements too (Android Authority).

🎮 A Silent Hill 2 remake is coming to PS5 and PC: Arguably the best entry in the series, and this will be a full remake rather than a mere remaster (Engadget).

🍎 Apple iPhone SE 4 renders leak: Is this the iPhone XR reborn? (Android Authority).

🖥️ The next generation of Thunderbolt seems nice but less necessary than ever: Built on the USB 4 V2 standard, but also offering up to 120Gbps speeds if you’ve got a few high-end monitors (The Verge). 

🎬 How to edit videos on Android to get them YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram-ready: A solid guide here that includes editing apps and how to do specific actions (Android Authority).

💰 Dollars to megabits, you may be paying 400 times as much as your neighbor for internet service: An analysis found that several major US ISPs offered lower income areas and ‘least white’ neighborhoods slow service for the same price as much faster service in wealthier areas (The Markup).

📞 Motorola could double down on foldables next year: Hopefully these devices come to global markets (Android Authority).

Thursday Thing

I’m a sucker for fast food, so I was pretty interested to see Cash Net USA’s infographics on the top-rated and bottom-rated fast food chains in every state (h/t: Digg). The company identified the most well-known chains, located branches in each state and the most populous cities, and then analyzed their ratings on Google Maps.

The result? Well, it turns out that Chick-Fil-A has the top average rating in 34 states. Lamar’s Donuts and Coffee, Papa Murphy’s, Five Guys, and In-N-Out also achieved top ratings in at least one state. 

What about the bottom-rated fast food chains? Unfortunately, Papa John’s pizza received the lowest average rating in 16 states. In fact, pizza chains were routinely the winners here, as Pizza Hut and Domino’s also “won” in a few states. The website also has infographics giving us a breakdown of the top-rated chain by type (e.g. chicken, burgers, pizza), as well as a breakdown by city and more.

Have a great day!

Hadlee Simons, Editor.