Following Epic Games’ lawsuit against Google, Google is making major changes to its Play Store worldwide. Google announced today that it will soon lower fees and start accepting other payment options.
App developers will be able to offer payment options other than Google’s in-app billing system in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, and the United States. Developers can use any billing system they want and link users to websites to make purchases.
As for fees, Google will charge between 10% and 25% (excluding billing fees), depending on annual revenue. There is a base service fee of 10% on the first $1 million in annual revenue. For revenues over $1 million, the fee is 20% for new installs and 25% for existing installs (apps installed before the new rules), excluding auto-renewing subscriptions. The link fee is 20% for apps earning over $1 million per year.
An additional 5% fee is charged for transactions using the Google Play billing system, which is in addition to the base service fee. Google’s full pricing structure is outlined on its website.
Google also offers lower pricing options for apps eligible for its Games Level Up and Apps Experience programs, with fees ranging from 10 to 20 percent. These programs will be open to developers starting in September.
Fees and billing options will take effect June 30 in the United Kingdom, United States, and European Economic Area. The updated pricing structure will expand to Australia, Japan and South Korea by the end of 2026, and to the rest of the world by September 2027.
Google’s antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games played out differently than Apple’s antitrust lawsuit, and it turned out that Google had a monopoly on app stores, leading to higher fees for developers. Google and Epic Games reached a settlement agreement and Google said it would reduce fees, support alternative app stores and offer alternative payment options.
Epic Games and Apple continue to battle in court, with Apple appealing to the Supreme Court. Apple is currently prohibited from charging commissions on U.S. apps that contain links to web shopping options and must comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, but Apple does not have a global policy like Google currently does.
Until the fee calculation is done in the Epic Games v. Apple case, Apple charges $0 for links in the App Store, while Google charges between 10 and 20 percent.
It is possible that changes to Google’s Play Store could impact the eventual outcome of the legal dispute between Apple and Epic Games. Apple and Google have historically charged developers similar fees, and although Apple is fighting App Store regulation in several countries, it must implement a disparate set of fees and restrictions by country to comply with local laws.
