BRAZIL – 2022/02/04: In this photo illustration, Activision Blizzard logo is displayed on a smartphone screen with a Microsoft Corporation logo in the background. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Microsoft announced a $68.7 billion dealAcquired by Activision BlizzardAfter that, players who have been worrying about whether popular games such as “Call of Duty” will become exclusive to Xbox and PC can finally breathe a sigh of relief.Earlier Microsoft officiallyConfirmation, which will continue to provide players with Activision Blizzard titles on the PlayStation, following Activision Blizzard’s existing agreement with Sony. And even after future agreements expire, they’ll keep PS gamers’ favorite games on the platform. Not only that, but Microsoft also intends to adopt a similar strategy on Nintendo’s Switch platform. “We believe this is the right decision for the industry, for our players and for our business,” company president Brad Smith wrote on the official blog.
according toBloomberg NewsBefore Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Sony reached an agreement with the latter to ensure that there will be two new “Call of Duty” mainline games and a “Modern Warzone” (Warzone) sequel to the PlayStation platform. . But after the news of the acquisition came out, everything became unknown, and until now players have finally gotten reassurance from Microsoft. In fact, taking this opportunity, Microsoft also announced the “Open App Store Principles” established for Windows and the future game market.These measures are in line with the policy of governments of various countries to “advance new laws to promote competition in the application market and other fields”, and the role is to persuade regulators (reportedly by the FTC In lieu of the Justice Department’s review and approval of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, “we want to let managers and the public know that Microsoft, as a company, will work to adapt to the new law in accordance with the Principles,” Smith wrote.
To establish the Open App Store Principles, Microsoft followed the direction of app store legislation in jurisdictions such as the United States, the European Union, the Netherlands and South Korea. Smith said Microsoft’s purpose is to “ensure the best possible availability for creators and customers of all sizes. experience”. The “Principles” will cover four key areas of quality, safety, security and privacy. Microsoft said that as long as the software reaches a certain level of quality and security, and respects user privacy, they will allow developers to use its app store.
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In the “Accountability” section of the Principles, Microsoft pledged to treat its own apps to the same standards as other companies’ work, and to avoid using non-public information and app store data to compete with other apps. In “Fairness and Transparency”, Microsoft also mentioned that it will treat all applications equally in the store (such as not unreasonably ranking software from Microsoft or its business partners). Microsoft will also be “transparent, consistent and objective” about the store’s promotion and marketing rules and how to use them.
Smith also pointed out that, in part because the app store legislation isn’t specific to consoles, only the first three parts of the Principles will be applied to the Xbox in the short term. “Starting today, we will move forward with applying the content of Principles 1 to 7 to the Xbox console,” Smith wrote. “We will then work to close the time gap for the application of the remaining Principles.” In “Principles” The fourth part of the game is called “Developer Choice”, and Microsoft says it will not force developers to use its payment system for in-app purchases, nor will it ask the other party to provide Microsoft Store with more favorable conditions than other platforms. Even if developers use other payment systems or offer different conditions in other stores, Microsoft will not suppress them. At the same time, developers are also allowed to communicate with customers through their apps, as long as the communication is for “legitimate business purposes.”
Among other promises Microsoft has made is to allow Windows users to use their preferred app store or third-party service, as well as to choose preset apps according to their needs. Overall, the “Developer’s Choice” content addresses issues raised in the Open App Market Act, which has not yet been voted on in the U.S. Senate (Microsoft copied many of the words from the Act). And the Open App Store Principles as a whole are expected to have a pretty far-reaching impact on Microsoft, beyond gaming, and perhaps changing the tech industry as a whole.