Microsoft and Google are embroiled in a legal battle that could significantly impact the future of Xbox mobile gaming. The dispute centers around Microsoft's plans to launch a new Xbox game store for Android devices, which has been delayed due to a temporary administrative stay granted to Google.

The new Xbox game store, which has been built by Microsoft, relies on a key court ruling that would force Google to open up its Play Store to competition and end the requirement for apps to use Google Play Billing. Microsoft has been pushing for regulators to act, but Google's temporary stay has blocked the changes from coming into effect.

Microsoft had planned to sell games directly in its Xbox app for Android and allow customers to immediately stream those games directly to their phones and tablets. However, Google's Play Store policies mean that Microsoft would have to give up a 30 percent cut of Xbox game purchases on Android, which Microsoft claims is "exorbitantly expensive" and "uneconomic" for the company.

Microsoft argues that Google's fees are prohibitively high, and that it would take years to rewrite the code to accommodate Google's payment system. The company also claims that many popular Xbox games are third-party titles that Microsoft cannot rewrite. Google, on the other hand, has stated that Microsoft has always been able to offer its Android users the ability to play and purchase Xbox games directly from its app, and that it has simply chosen not to.

The legal battle has significant implications for Microsoft's "Xbox everywhere" strategy, which aims to extend Xbox beyond a console base that isn't growing. Microsoft recently launched its "This is an Xbox" marketing campaign to promote the idea of phones, laptops, tablets, and handheld gaming PCs as Xbox devices. The company's entire Xbox mobile vision has been delayed and complicated by app store policies from Google and Apple.

Sources close to Xbox have revealed that Xbox president Sarah Bond has staked her career reputation on the idea of Xbox being everywhere, across multiple platforms and devices. The new "This is an Xbox" marketing effort is the first big campaign to launch after Microsoft shook up its internal Xbox marketing teams earlier this year.

Microsoft has been teasing its vision of a "next-generation" Xbox store on mobile for years, with its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard securing key mobile games like Call of Duty and Candy Crush that could potentially tempt consumers away from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. However, the company's mobile store hasn't emerged yet, and it's unclear exactly why it was delayed.

The legal dispute highlights the challenges Microsoft faces in its efforts to expand Xbox beyond a console base that isn't growing. The company must play by the rules of other platform holders, and the potential outcome of the court case can sway its entire Xbox strategy and how it offers games across multiple devices. Until mobile app stores are forced open, Microsoft will have to find workarounds or lobby regulators even harder to make its Xbox vision a reality.