Google Play revenue cut lowered to 15% on first $1m
Android store will match Apple's reduced App Store cut for small developers starting in July
Google is lowering its cut of small developer revenues from the Google Play storefront.
In a post on the Android Developers Blog today, VP of product management Sameer Samat explained that beginning July 1, 2021, Google would reduce its standard 30% share of revenues apps and services generated through Google Play to 15% for the first $1 million of revenue annually.
"With this change, 99% of developers globally that sell digital goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees," Samat said.
Samat added, "We believe this is a fair approach that aligns with Google's broader mission to help all developers succeed."
The move mirrors one Apple made last November, cutting the App Store's commission on developer revenues to 15% for the first $1 million as of January 1, 2021.
Both Apple and Google have been fighting pushback over their revenue cut of late, most prominently in the form of numerous international legal battles with Epic Games over the developer's attempt to avoid giving the stores a cut of mobile Fortnite revenues.
Beyond those fights, a US House of Representatives antitrust committee in October concluded that Google, Apple, and other tech giants had engaged in monopolistic behavior, while an Arizona bill mandating that app stores allow developers to use alternative payment systems has passed the state House of Representatives and is before the state Senate.
Google and Apple now both have extra incentive to "help all developers succeed," since by helping smaller developers to succeed Apple and Google will make less money themselves.
I expect we'll see indies and other smaller companies featured more often on the Google and Apple storefronts now that featuring them will generate less revenue for Google & Apple!
In Apple's case, the upcoming IDFA changes will almost certainly crush the hopes of small studios of achieving growth and disrupting the ecosystem. Apple has cut small developers off. So the incumbents just gained an extra moat. I think Apple realised the damage this is going to do only after they'd committed to it. The diverse long tail of apps and games add significant value to iOS as a platform and without them it is significantly less valuable. So the store fee cut was a way for them to soften to blow to the majority of their developers while ensuring they can still claim 30% of the vast majority of revenues.
As for Google I think their approach was just for optics to match and outdo Apple (Google will reduce the fee to 15% on the first $1million for everybody, Apple won't). It's a tiny cut to their revenue but a PR win for them. Oh and Google aren't about to wreck their app ecosystem so there's that too.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Daniel on 17th March 2021 2:24pm