Google reduces its App Store commission, following Apple

In the past, digital stores such as Steam, Apple’s App Store and Google Play all took a 30% cut of every transaction. While being the industry standard, Epic Games swooped in with much fairer percentage cuts, pressuring the others to do the same. Following Apple, Google has now reduced its pay cut to 15%, but with a slight catch.

Making the announcement on the Android Developers Blog, Sameer Samat, the VP of Product Management said “Starting on July 1, 2021 we are reducing the service fee Google Play receives when a developer sells digital goods or services to 15% for the first $1M (USD) of revenue every developer earns each year.”

According to Samat, “With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees. These are funds that can help developers scale up at a critical phase of their growth by hiring more engineers, adding to their marketing staff, increasing server capacity, and more.”

Unlike Apple, who reduces the fee only to those who make less than $1 million in revenue, Google will be “making this reduced fee on the first $1M of total revenue earned each year available to every Play developer, regardless of size,” as “we believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google’s broader mission to help all developers succeed.”

Though Google may be slightly late to the show, it is good to see the Play Store owner further pushing down the barrier to entry, making its services slightly more accessible and fair to small developers. Hopefully Apple and others will continue to compete in this aspect, making their services more and more developer-friendly.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this move? Is it enough? What is a fair store cut in your opinion? Let us know down below.

Become a Patron!