The EU says it’s ‘aware’ of Xbox’s criticism of Apple blocking Game Pass

The European Union has said it’s “aware” of Microsoft’s criticism of Apple’s App Store rules, following the decision to block the release of the Xbox Game Pass app and its xCloud streaming service on iOS.

In a strongly-worded statement published on Friday, the Xbox firm claimed that “Apple stands alone as the only general-purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.”

Facebook also criticised Apple’s Store rules, after it claimed it had to remove playable games from its Facebook Gaming streaming app.

In its own statement, Apple confirmed that because Microsoft wasn’t submitting each individual game to its review process, the app that enables access to those games was being blocked from publishing.

Asked about Facebook and Microsoft’s issues with Apple, Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said in a statement published this week (via Reuters): “The Commission is aware of these concerns regarding Apple’s App Store rules.”

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The European Commission currently has four active probes into Apple, three of which focus on the App Store and its restrictive rules, including requirements that app developers use its own in-app purchasing system.

It was confirmed last week that xCloud will launch in 22 markets on September 15 with over 100 games playable on smartphones and tablets, but it won’t be available on iPhone and iPad.

Microsoft held a public test for xCloud on iOS earlier this year, but it was suspended following Microsoft’s complaint.