14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft announced earlier this year that it would be removing apps that do not comply with age rating policies from the Windows Store, and according to a new report, the company has already started the cleaning process by pulling no less than 100,000 apps.
Specifically, Microsoft warned developers that they needed to submit age ratings for their apps in order to “improve the Store experience for customers,” setting a deadline of September 30 in order to comply with this requirement.
But as it turns out, the majority of developers who were targeted by this policy update actually failed to submit age ratings for their apps, which led to an en-mass removal from the Windows Store.
100,000 apps already removed
WBI writes that no less than 100,000 apps were pulled from the Store as part of this cleaning process, but what’s important to note is that Microsoft is yet to confirm this figure. But if it’s true, it could signal another issue that the software giant might be having, as in addition to the actual lack of apps, developers who invested in the platform show only small interest in their apps.
“As part of our continuing efforts to improve the Store experience for customers, we’re bringing enforcement of the Windows Store age rating policy to published apps that are not yet rated by using the new Dev Center age rating questionnaire. We’ve identified one of more of your apps as not having a rating based on the questionnaire,” Microsoft told developers in emails sent this summer.
At this point, the number of apps available in the Store is said to be somewhere around 239,000, down from more than 329,000 in September, according to the same source.
We’ve contacted Microsoft to find out if these figures are accurate or not and will update the article should we receive a statement. However, there’s a good chance this is true given the fact that the company already announced this app cleaning process.