Xbox Universal Store

In the face of regulatory approval of its Activision Blizzard purchase, Microsoft is looking to change the way it operates. The company has laid out its plans for after the deal goes through, and it'll include a universal app store for all devices.

By all devices, Microsoft means all devices. The vision, seemingly, is for an app store to exist on non-Microsoft platforms too. If it happens, that'd mean a Microsoft store could operate on Google, Apple and even Sony devices. Here's what Microsoft President Brad Smith had to say in a CNBC interview:

What we're really focused on doing as well [as the Activision deal] is creating, what we call a new universal app store, an app store that will enable any gamer on any device to access, and download, and use any app. So, it would work on mobile, it would work on consoles, it world work on PCs...it will, I think, really bring new opportunities to people who create games and people who play them.

So, it looks like the company is trying to create a more open storefront, in order to convince regulators to approve a deal as big as the Activision one. However, it could also provide the platform for Xbox services, like Game Pass, to appear on other devices.

Xbox has long spoken about the likes of Google and Amazon being their main competitors, and this app store effort fuels that thought.

Do you think a universal app store would be good for Xbox, and Game Pass? Let us know your thoughts below.

[source youtu.be]