Microsoft has announced that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android devices. This news was shared by Xbox President Sarah Bond in a tweet, stating,

“The court’s ruling to open up Google’s mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility. Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices, so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android.”

The announcement comes following a ruling that Google’s Android app store is an illegal monopoly, which requires the tech giant to open up the Play Store to competition for three years. This means that Google will no longer force developers to use its own Google Play Billing, as it has been found to be illegally tied to its app store. Additionally, Google will be required to distribute rival third-party app stores within Google Play.

With Xbox store support directly in the mobile Android app, Microsoft will have the freedom to sell Xbox games on Android devices. Furthermore, integrated Xbox Cloud Gaming features will allow users to immediately stream games to their mobile devices after purchase.

This ruling is a significant development in Epic Games’ ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Google. As per the ruling, starting from 1 November for a three-year period in the US, Google will be prohibited from the following:

• Paying developers to launch apps first or exclusively through the Play Store.
• Offering manufacturers or carriers incentives to pre-install Google Play (or to not pre-install rival stores) on new devices.
• Forcing app makers to use Google Play Billing.
• Requiring a developer to set a price based on whether Google Play is used.
• Restricting developers from pointing users to external payment options outside of the Play Store.

The availability of games on the Xbox app for Android and whether this feature will extend beyond the US to other regions remains unclear.

While Microsoft has not announced similar plans for Apple’s iOS devices, it’s worth noting that users with Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions can currently stream games through Apple and Google web browsers on the iPhone or iPad.