Late last year, Microsoft disclosed in its filings with the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it intends to build an innovative “Xbox Mobile Platform”. The platform will consist of mobile games by Activision and King. The CMA is currently looking into Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. 

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The inclusion of Activision Blizzard’s material, the company claimed in its filings, will enhance Microsoft’s capacity to develop a next-gen game store that works throughout a variety of devices, which include mobile. By expanding the Xbox Store to mobile devices and leveraging the current gaming communities of Activision Blizzard, Xbox hopes to draw users to a brand-new Xbox Mobile Platform.

It’s not surprising that Microsoft wants to participate, given that mobile games are some of the most downloaded apps. The mobile gaming market had an $85 billion net worth in 2020, according to a graph on Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition website. 

Activision’s agreement is Microsoft’s strategy to expand its mobile gaming visibility and go up against competitors Google and Apple. It won’t be simple to compete with the tech industry’s big shots, though. Consumers spent upwards of $1.6 billion each week on mobile games both on the Google Play Store and App Store, according to a gaming data.ai and IDC study in Q1 of 2022. 

On mobile devices, however, moving users away from the App Store and Google Play Store will necessitate a significant change in consumer behavior. Microsoft believes that by providing recognizable and well-liked content, gamers will become more willing to try something different.

The purchase of Savage Game Studios was confirmed by Sony’s PlayStation in August. The rival to Xbox claimed that the mobile game developer would work with its new PlayStation Studios Mobile Division to advance mobile gaming.

Netflix is a major streaming service and another, albeit smaller, rival in the mobile gaming market. Two new game studios in Finland and California have just been announced by the company. However, it has trouble drawing in players. Less than 1% of Netflix’s subscribers, according to a recent study, play mobile games.