Court order delays Microsoft’s plans to allow Xbox games to be purchased directly in the Xbox app on Android

Last month, Microsoft announced that it would allow Xbox games to be purchased and played directly from the Xbox app on Android starting in November, thanks to a recent ruling. But as we near the end of the month, it looks like those plans will have to wait a bit longer.

Xbox President Sarah Bond announced on X/Twitter on Wednesday that “a recent temporary administrative stay granted by the courts” had delayed functionality. Still, Bond added that they are ready to roll out the feature as soon as they have legal approval.

At Xbox, we want to give players more choice in how and where they play, including the ability to play and purchase games directly from the Xbox app. I recently shared our goal to initially unlock these features on Android devices in the US through the Google Play Store, while other apps…

— BondSarahBond (@BondSarah_Bond) November 27, 2024

“At Xbox, we want to give gamers more choice in how and where they play, including the ability to play and purchase games directly from the Xbox app,” Bond wrote. “I recently shared our goal to initially unlock these features in the Google Play Store on Android devices in the US, as other app stores adapt to consumer demand.”

“Due to a recent temporary administrative stay granted by the courts, we are currently unable to launch these features as planned,” she continued. “Our team has built the functionality and is ready to go live as soon as the court makes a final decision. We are excited to get started and want to offer players more choice and flexibility.”

Microsoft announced its plans following a recent ruling by a US judge that forces Google to open its Play Store to competitors for three years. Under the ruling – the latest victory in Epic Games’ long-running antitrust battle against Google – Google will list third-party Android app stores on the Play Store and grant third-party app stores full access to Google Play’s app catalog. However, Google announced in a later blog post that it would appeal the decision.

For Microsoft, the ruling meant that it would theoretically be free to sell Xbox games on Android devices and stream them once purchased in the same app, without having to use Google Play Billing. However, it is currently unclear what impact this court order will have on Microsoft’s plans, other than a mere delay.

The ability to expand purchasing to the Google Play Store was just one of Microsoft’s latest moves to expand Xbox’s presence in the mobile space. In May, Bond announced that Microsoft planned to launch its own mobile game store in July, although that has been delayed. Following Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which owns Candy Crush maker King, the company certainly has more clout to bring to the mobile industry.

Alex Stedman is a senior news editor at IGN and leads entertainment coverage. When she’s not writing or editing, she reads fantasy novels or plays Dungeons & Dragons.