The App Store is a lucrative business. Not just for Apple, though. For the thousands of developers who host apps in the digital storefront, it can mean big earnings, too. If anything, it's just a way to get your name, company, app, or game out there in front of a lot of eyeballs. So of course Microsoft would very much want to make sure it's accessing every available avenue towards the digital storefront.
It took a bit of doing, but Microsoft (like other companies) figured out the "best way" to get its cloud game streaming aspirations on iPhone and iPad: web browsers. Microsoft launched its xCloud game streaming service in a beta earlier this year. But now the company has confirmed a broader launch is coming soon, and with one very important change along with it.
In its fight to try and get xCloud on iOS and iPadOS, it turns out Microsoft led to an entirely different company's app getting removed from the App Store.
Several online game-streaming services, including Nvidia's GeForce Now, Sony's PS Now, Microsoft's xCloud and Google's Stadia, are currently unable to reach iPhone and iPad customers because Apple's rules are making it impossible to get their apps on the App Store.