If your device can stream a video, it can probably play Red Dead Redemption on Google Stadia or Halo on Microsoft's xCloud (which is now technically called "Cloud gaming (Beta) with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate").

Apple says these apps violate its App Store policies and will not be allowed into Apple's walled garden.

Our customers enjoy great apps and games from millions of developers, and gaming services can absolutely launch on the App Store as long as they follow the same set of guidelines applicable to all developers, including submitting games individually for review, and appearing in charts and search.

Apple wants to approve these games individually and let users rate them individually through the App Store.

Unfortunately, we do not have a path to bring our vision of cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to gamers on iOS via the Apple App Store.

Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.

All games available in the Xbox Game Pass catalog are rated for content by independent industry ratings bodies such as the ESRB and regional equivalents.

We are committed to finding a path to bring cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to the iOS platform.

Microsoft's claim that Apple "treats gaming apps differently" is a pretty strong argument considering, as an all-you-can-eat gaming subscription, Xbox Game Pass is not all that different from video streaming services like Netflix or Disney+, both of which are allowed on the App Store.

Apple's dislike of remote computing could be viewed as a push for more consistent, performant native apps (as well as platform protectionism) but the AAA games being pushed over these services would either not be possible or would be very impractical as native iOS apps.

You could say cloud gaming will mean fewer games purchased from Apple's gaming ecosystem, but the same could be said of Netflix pulling eyeballs away from Apple's video content