After all the efforts made by Epic Games and other developers, Google has decided to calm them down with an offer. Google announced today that it’s reducing the Playstore fees for developers selling digital goods and services to 15% until they reach the threshold revenue of $1 million. This new policy is flat 50% off from what’s collecting now.
Google Cuts Playstore Fees by Half
For years, both Google and Apple were accused of eating a big chunk of developers’ revenues by charging high Playstore fees of 30%. These protests had gone viral last year when the popular game Fortnite maker Epic Games sued Apple legally on this.
Epic Games has gathered enough supporters to wage a similar war against Google, which eventually resulted now. As per the new announcement, Google decided to cut the Playstore fees by half, to 15% for those developers earning less than $1 million in revenue a year. Thus, it’s a boost for the indie developers to save up money.
All the money that’s being paid to Google can then be spent on other expenditures like marketing, staffing etc., where it needs severe growth. Though the court cases are in progress over these allegations, Google’s new announcement may soothe some of the players to settle down. This decision was almost on par with Apple’s announcement last year.
The Cupertino-based company has announced a similar reduction of 50% fees on its Appstore, but somewhat typically than Google’s. In Apple’s scene, developers earning less than $1 million (irrespective of time) will be charged 15% fees, and upon reaching the threshold, they’ll be charged the general 30% fees.
These decisions can sincerely help indie developers’ on both platforms, who’re forced to pay a part of their revenues to app stores for being housed in them.