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Microsoft seems to be attempting to set itself apart from Apple and Google.

In a Microsoft store, all programmes will be handled similarly.

Tech behemoths have been chastised on a number of fronts.

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Microsoft wooed antitrust investigators on Wednesday by pledging that any app store it establishes will treat developers equally. Antitrust officials are looking into Microsoft's intention to purchase video game company Activision Blizzard. Microsoft president Brad Smith outlined a set of 'Open App Store Principles' that will apply to the store Microsoft operates for Windows-based machines as well as 'the next-generation marketplaces we will establish for gaming.' 'We created these principles in part to address Microsoft's increased role and duty as we begin the process of seeking regulatory permission for our purchase of Activision Blizzard in capitals across the world,' Smith said in a statement.

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Microsoft's $69 billion (approximately Rs. 5,17,290 crore) acquisition of video game behemoth Activision Blizzard must pass muster with European and American authorities bent on reining in tech behemoths. Analysts told AFP that once the merger plans were unveiled last month, the deal will be investigated, but not as closely as a purchase by Amazon, Google, or Facebook-parent Meta. Microsoft looked to be attempting to set itself apart from Apple and Google, which have been accused of tightly controlling their own app stores and collecting a disproportionate share of developer income. 

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Microsoft's principles included giving all developers access to its app store and not forcing them to utilise the company's payment mechanism for in-app purchases. According to Smith, all programmes in a Microsoft store will be handled identically. 'We want to stimulate greater content development innovation and investment, as well as less distribution limits,' he stated. 'The world demands open app marketplaces, which necessitates open app stores,' says the author. For app store regulations, tech behemoths have been chastised on numerous fronts. The Dutch consumer authority penalised Apple EUR five million (approximately Rs. 40 crore) in January for not allowing dating app owners to pick payment alternatives other than Apple Pay in its Dutch App Store. 

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After a legal battle with Fortnite developer Epic Games, which claimed Apple of maintaining a monopoly in its store for digital goods and services, a US federal judge ordered Apple to loosen its control over its App Store payment choices in November. Epic, on the other hand, failed to show that antitrust crimes had occurred, according to the US judge. Epic Games is embroiled in a legal struggle with Apple and Google, whose operating systems power almost all of the world's smartphones. On transactions done on Apple's App Store and Google Play, both firms charge what they judge acceptable fees. However, app developers have gotten more enraged in recent years as a result of the internet giants' cut.