In a substantial shift to its business model, Google is dismantling the 30 per cent commission that has defined mobile app store economics for the past two decades. The tech giant will drop its Play Store commissions to 20 per cent on in-app purchases, with another 5 per cent tacked on if app developers choose to use Google's billing system.
The announcement follows a settlement with Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, resolving years-long legal battles over anticompetitive concerns. The changes represent Google's acknowledgement that the old fee structure no longer withstands legal and regulatory scrutiny. Rather than fight the courts further, the company is rewriting the rules itself.
The fee adjustments are layered. For developers participating in Google's new App Experience program or revamped Google Play Games Level Up program, rates drop even further. Developers who opt to participate in these programs will pay the 20 per cent commission on transactions taking place in their existing app installs, but will pay only a 15 per cent commission on transactions from new app installs. Subscriptions face a substantially lower 10 per cent cut.
What matters most for developers is the decoupling of payments. Developers can now use their own billing systems in their app alongside Google Play's billing, or guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases. This is the crack in Google's walled garden. Developers who route users to their own websites need not pay anything to Google beyond the service fee itself.
Google is also introducing the Registered App Stores program, which simplifies how alternative app stores can distribute apps on Android. App stores that meet certain safety and quality requirements will be able to register with Google and receive a more streamlined installation process when users sideload them. The company intends to make sideloading difficult later in 2026, which may pressure alternative stores to apply for the program and meet Google's standards.
The rollout timeline reflects the regulatory geography of modern tech. Fee changes will start rolling out on June 30 in the US, UK, and EEA, in Australia by September 30, in Korea and Japan by December 31, and to the rest of the world by September 30 of 2027. For Australian app developers, the September 30 deadline means the lower fees arrive before year's end.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said on X "THANKS GOOGLE!" calling the move a "better deal for all developers." The settlement allows Fortnite to return to the Google Play Store globally, a significant development after Apple also began allowing alternative payment methods following separate Epic litigation.
Google's move illustrates an uncomfortable reality for large technology platforms. The old model of extracting 30 per cent from every transaction was always politically unsustainable once scrutiny arrived. Courts have found Google engaged in illegal monopolistic behaviour to maintain its dominance. Rather than defend that position indefinitely through appeals, the company negotiated a settlement that imposes constraints through 2032.
This is capitalism responding to law, not law suppressing capitalism. Google remains profitable. Developers keep more of their revenue. The company reduces its legal exposure. All parties move forward. Yet the outcome reflects what took years of litigation to achieve: the recognition that app store operators wield enormous economic power and that this power was being used anticompetitively.
For Australian consumers, these changes matter less directly than for developers. But they do signal that the period of absolute platform control is ending, slowly, through a combination of judicial rulings and regulatory pressure across multiple jurisdictions. Competition is harder to implement than monopoly, but the courts have decided the attempt is worth making.