Microsoft opens its Windows Store to third-party app stores

Microsoft continues to open its Windows App Store today and invites third-party app stores to integrate with the Microsoft Store. It’s a big change that will make both Amazon and the Epic Games Store discoverable on the Microsoft Store in the coming months.

“Like any other app, third-party storefront apps have a product detail page that can be found by searching or browsing so users can easily find them and install them with the same level of security as any other app in the Microsoft Store,” Giorgio explains. Sardo, general manager of the Microsoft Store. “Today we’re announcing that Amazon and Epic Games will bring Storefront apps to the Microsoft Store in the next few months, and we look forward to other stores in the future.”

This news comes months after Microsoft announced some of them Important changes to the Microsoft Store. The Store isn’t set for Windows 11 and eventually Windows 10, but Microsoft will also allow developers to keep 100 percent of revenue from apps when they use alternative payment systems. The only exception is that This does not apply to games.

It also comes after the head of Windows and Hardware, Panos Panay, revealed to the edge In June, Microsoft opened the doors to Steam and other third-party stores as part of the new Windows 11 App Store. “I really want this experience where you go to the store, you write the app and you get the app you want,” Banay said earlier this year.

Although Steam is not on the list yet, it could still arrive in the future. Microsoft’s commitment to being an “open primary store” will now allow all third-party Storefront apps to be listed in the Microsoft Store on Windows. This does not mean that apps and games that are separate from competing stores can be found and installed, but that storefront apps will appear in search results.

The only difference here is Microsoft’s partnership with Amazon. Microsoft brings Android apps to Windows 11, and this includes the ability to discover and search the Amazon Appstore directly from the Microsoft Store. A preview of this integration will be available to Windows Insiders soon.

Microsoft’s more open App Store policies are already having a huge impact on the Microsoft Store. Popular applications such as Discord, Zoom, VLC, TeamViewer, and Visual Studio Code are now included in the Microsoft Store. There are also Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) from Reddit, Wikipedia, TikTok, Tumblr, and more. Any browser can now also be listed in the Microsoft Store, and both Opera and Yandex browsers have benefited from Microsoft’s new guidelines.