Microsoft hits out at Apple's reasons why xCloud streaming isn't coming to iOS at present
Microsoft has taken the time to work out its position, before coming out if not swinging then at least swiping, explaining exactly why its exciting xCloud streaming service will only be on Android at launch.
We already had an idea that Apple's restrictive policies regarding its App Store were likely to be somewhere behind the lack of iOS and iPadOS devices being supported, and that's indeed the case.
In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft didn't hold back:
"Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store. Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps even when they include interactive content."
It went on to explain that the ESRB ratings all its xCloud games secure should count toward their respectability, and did also reiterate that it will continue to examine how it can bring xCloud to iOS eventually.
Apple, for its part, gave Business Insider a statement of its own, effectively explaining longwindedly that the reason game streaming doesn't really have a home on iOS is that Apple feels it can't properly review and curate the games being streamed via a service.
The explanation makes sense when you refer back to Apple's terms and conditions for App Store compliance, but that doesn't mean it holds up in the long-term, and you have to think Microsoft and Apple will work toward a solution.
Whether that solution involves Apple getting the huge 30% revenue cut it demands from apps is anyone's guess, but you'd assume Microsoft will be keen to avoid that being sliced away.
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