Microsoft already has plans for an Xbox app store on iPhone

Microsoft says that it already has plans in place to launch its own app store on iPhone and iPad, not to mention other platforms.

Currently, Apple's own App Store is the only game in town for developers and companies who want to make their apps available on the iPhone and iPad. But that could all change soon and Microsoft says it will be ready.

In an interview with the Financial Times picked up by Eurogamer, Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer said that the company intends to take full advantage if Apple is forced to allow third-party app stores.

"We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play," Spencer told the Financial Times. "Today, we can't do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up."

But that might change when the European Union's (EU) Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into effect in 2024. That, in theory, could force Apple to allow third-party app stores onto the iPhone and iPad, blowing a massive hole in its walled garden in the process.

It still isn't 100% clear if that's what the DMA will force, but it's a distinct possibility and no doubt one that Microsoft is ready to cheer from the sidelines. The company's Xbox Cloud Gaming currently functions via a web app on iPhones and iPads because Apple wouldn't allow it into the App Store. All of that would be undone should Microsoft be allowed to launch its own Xbox app store.

All of this is of course happening against a backdrop that sees Microsoft trying to buy Activision Blizzard, a deal that is under intense scrutiny over concerns that it would be anti-competitive. Ironically, that's a complaint often leveled at Apple over its App Store dealings as well.