Xbox mobile store might not be dead after all, says Xbox CEO

Don’t write off the Xbox Mobile Store just yet, the CEO of Xbox has stepped in to reassure fans that the ambitious project is still on the table.

Players recently noticed that the Xbox Mobile Store page had gone offline, returning an error instead of content. That naturally sparked concern that Microsoft had quietly shelved the initiative entirely. Industry insider Jez Corden flagged the removal on X, prompting a direct response from Asha Sharma.

Sharma confirmed that an amicus brief was filed three weeks ago, making the case that “mobile competition still matters” and that Microsoft wants the future of play to be “more open.” She added that, while the company is still figuring things out, “the idea of an Xbox mobile store is not dead.”

A Store with big ambitions

The Xbox Mobile Store was first announced back in 2024 by then-Xbox President Sarah Bond, who outlined plans to bring Microsoft’s first-party portfolio to a dedicated storefront, including titles like Candy Crush and Minecraft. The plan was for the store to launch as a web-based platform first, ensuring it would be “accessible across all devices, all countries, no matter what, and independent of the policies of closed ecosystem stores.”

That approach made a lot of sense given the ongoing scrutiny of Apple and Google’s app store practices.

Why the Xbox mobile store still matters

With the mobile gaming market worth hundreds of billions globally, Microsoft’s motivation here is clear. A web-based storefront sidesteps platform gatekeepers entirely, and given Sharma’s comments, that goal hasn’t disappeared even if the store page temporarily has.

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