To please Apple, Facebook made games less prominent by first removing icons from a list of playable games and then removing the game catalog entirely.
It said it had told Apple that more than 95 percent of activity on the Android version was watching streams of game playing, rather than playing games directly. In its denials, Apple cited rules that forbid apps with the “main purpose” of distributing games and apps that offer simple games in a “store or storelike interface.”įacebook kept trying.
Google’s Play store for Android devices approved it that month.īut Apple rejected at least five versions of Facebook Gaming this year. And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to nongaming apps even when they include interactive content.”įacebook announced its Gaming app in April, saying people could use it to watch livestreams of games and play simple games like Words With Friends and Thug Life. “Apple stands alone as the only general-purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store,” a Microsoft spokesman said on Thursday. On Wednesday, for example, Microsoft ended a limited test of its xCloud game streaming app for Apple devices, though it will offer cloud gaming on Android devices starting next month. Some companies with gaming apps are shying away from Apple’s App Store, privately saying Apple will simply not approve their apps because they compete. In testimony to Congress last week about Facebook’s rivals, he said, “Some are upstarts, but others are gatekeepers with the power to decide if we can even release our apps in their app stores to compete with them.” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has expressed consternation about the power that Apple holds, albeit obliquely. That makes Facebook dependent on Apple to reach many of its users. While Facebook runs the world’s largest social network and owns many popular apps such as Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, Apple controls their distribution through its App Store. The sparring is a reminder of where the power lies in Silicon Valley. It added that it had allowed other apps that included games into the App Store.