Phil Schiller Explains Why Microsoft’s xCloud Gaming Service Isn’t on iPhone

Apple Fellow Phil Schiller testified at the Epic v. Apple trial today, defending how the Cupertino company handles game services on the App Store.

One of the points the executive touched on is Microsoft’s xCloud video game streaming platform and why Apple doesn’t support it across its iOS devices, reads a new report from CNET.

“Apple requires game streaming services to submit individual apps to its App Store for review, even if they’re part of a streaming catalog of hundreds of titles,” reads the report. “The reason, he said, is that when people look for a game in the App Store, Apple wants to provide an age rating and parental controls, a product page, and privacy policies to users in the same way it does for other apps on its store, regardless of how it’s delivered.”

“As a store we want to provide that information to our users,” Schiller said. Microsoft has disagreed in the past, saying it creates a worse experience for users searching through its catalog of games.

When judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked why gaming was treated differently than movie apps like Netflix and Disney], Schiller explained that “Netflix has one account and privacy policy. People don’t sign in to individual movies to watch in the same way they might sign into the latest Assassin’s Creed historic fiction adventure game from Ubisoft to keep track of their progress and connect with friends.”

“These are interactive games,” Schiller said. “It’s something that requires you they do much more than just play video. The App Store is not a movie store. It isn’t about movies. It’s an apps and games store. And so when you bring in games in a different way, that no longer works as designed in the game store.”