Advertisement

Microsoft bringing Xbox and PC games to the iPhone

Reuters is reporting that Microsoft will begin bringing select Xbox and PC game titles to the iPhone. Apparently Microsoft's developers will not be porting the games, but will instead rely on a Japanese company called Klab. According to Reuters:

Through a licensing deal, Klab will bring Microsoft's Xbox and Windows-based computer games to the iPhone and smartphones using Google Inc's Android operating system, according to the Nikkei.

Microsoft's "Age of the Empires" will be available as a free-to-play game worldwide on smartphones by the end of the fiscal year 2013 and other titles will follow, the report said.

The move comes as Microsoft is struggling to find its place in the post-PC computing world. As Microsoft owns the rights to many popular gaming titles, it makes financial sense for it to begin porting those games to most popular mobile operating systems. It also makes sense that companies will begin porting more advanced games to iOS since iOS 7 offers official support for third-party gamepads.

As the report states, Age of Empires will be the first game to be ported and should be available on iOS by the end of 2013.