Microsoft lists new Open App Store Principles to help clear regulatory hurdles

What you need to know

• Microsoft has made a number of changes to the Microsoft Store experience in recent memory in order to make it more friendly to app makers and consumers.
• It has now defined its 11 Open App Store Principles.
• The company also clarified the future state of Call of Duty on PlayStation.

Following its purchase of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has released a blog post stating its newly christened Open App Store Principles. The company states the post is to let regulators and consumers know that it's making moves to get ahead of legislation so it can best work within the bounds of upcoming laws rather than combat them.

Given that Big Tech has come under increased scrutiny in recent years and Microsoft is in need of regulatory clearance for its gaming acquisition to go through, it's doing what it can to set up a smooth process. Some argue Microsoft's ability to avoid lawmaker scrutiny boils down to its lobbying power, though Microsoft insists it's a matter of playing by the rules and being on the "right side of history."

In the announcement's opening remarks, ahead of its introduction of the 11 new Open App Store Principles, there appears to be a quick jab at Apple. The author of the post, Microsoft President Brad Smith, says, "too much friction exists today between creators and gamers; app store policies and practices on mobile devices restrict what and how creators can offer games and what and how gamers can play them." If you're wondering what specifically that is a reference to, it may very well be a callout to the recent resurgence of Epic v. Apple chatter.

After the opening remarks, the post breaks the 11 new principles into four subsections.

Quality, Safety, Security & Privacy:

1. We will enable all developers to access our app store as long as they meet reasonable and transparent standards for quality and safety.
2. We will continue to protect the consumers and gamers who use our app store, ensuring that developers meet our standards for security.
3. We will continue to respect the privacy of consumers in our app stores, giving them controls to manage their data and how it is used.

Accountability:

1. We will hold our own apps to the same standards we hold competing apps.
2. We will not use any non-public information or data from our app store to compete with developers' apps.

Fairness and Transparency:

1. We will treat apps equally in our app store without unreasonable preferencing or ranking of our apps or our business partners' apps over others.
2. We will be transparent about rules for promotion and marketing in our app store and apply these consistently and objectively.

Developer Choice:

1. We will not require developers in our app store to use our payment system to process in-app payments.
2. We will not require developers in our app store to provide more favorable terms in our app store than in other app stores.
3. We will not disadvantage developers if they choose to use a payment processing system other than ours or if they offer different terms and conditions in other app stores.
4. We will not prevent developers from communicating directly with their customers through their apps for legitimate business purposes, such as pricing terms and product or service offerings.

The post also clarifies Microsoft's stance on how it will share Call of Duty with Sony and Nintendo in upcoming years.

The Microsoft Store and the company's other storefronts have not always been considered the most consumer- or developer-friendly. Time will tell if these new principles change that perception.