Apple will soon permit Game-Pass-style game streaming apps on its App Store

With new EU rules designed to quash anti-competitive practices among tech giants looming, Apple has announced it'll soon be permitting Game-Pass-style "streaming game services" and "apps that provide access to mini apps and games" onto its App Store.

As per Apple's new guidelines, which will come into effect worldwide today, developers can now submit a single "host" app for distribution on the App Store that provides access to a catalogue of "streaming games, mini-apps, mini-games, chatbots, and plug-ins".

Apple says developers can incorporate its In-App Purchase system into the new-style apps to offer users paid digital content or services "such as a subscription for an individual chatbot". It's also confirmed, in response to a query from Eurogamer, that its existing App Store terms — including its commission (it currently charges developers a 30 percent fee for paid apps and in-app purchases) — will apply to mini-apps, mini-games, subscriptions, and all other digital goods and services sold via the new host apps.

Apple adds that host apps must adhere to "all App Store Review Guidelines" and must maintain an age rating based on the highest age-rated content contained within.

These changes, it continues, are being implemented to "reflect feedback from Apple's developer community" and it insists the move is consistent with the App Store's mission "to provide a trusted place for users to find apps they love and developers everywhere with new capabilities to grow their businesses".

It's almost certainly not a coincidence, however, that Apple will, from this March, need to comply with new rules under the EU's Digital Markets Act, which, among other things, requires it - and other big tech companies - to open up mobile platforms to app stores owned and operated by other companies. Presumably, this is Apple's attempt to make its own App Store - with access to its massive userbase - a more attractive option.

Microsoft has already confirmed it's looking to take advantage of the EU's new rules by implementing its own app store. Notably, the company's attempt to put Project xCloud on iOS - giving access to its catalogue of Game Pass games via streaming - was blocked by Apple in 2020. At the time, Apple insisted the kind of catalogue app Microsoft was attempting to submit - and which it is now explicitly permitting - was inappropriate as all games must be submitted individually for review to ensure the App Store remained a "safe and trusted place for customers". Many suggested the complexity of taking its cut from these kinds of all-inclusive apps likely influenced Apple decision at the time.

Other companies - likely including Epic Games, which has been a vocal critic of Apple's App Store rules in the last few years - will no doubt have their own external app store plans in the works ahead of the EU's new rules. However, a recent report by The Wall Street Journal has suggested Apple is currently formulating plans that will give it the power to review all apps and collect fees on all apps downloaded outside its App Store.