Google reiterated its plan to reduce shop costs and provide more flexible payment options from 30 June. Additional benefits could be unlocked if the developers joined the revised “Level Up” scheme as of 30 September.
These changes were announced as early as March of this year, when Google and Epic announced a settlement that ended the legal saw-sawing between the two companies, which lasted for many years. However, the decision to cancel some of the store costs and to increase the options for additional payments was not a great victory for developers, as the two companies claimed.
In fact, if most large-scale developers continue to use Google Play as a settlement, their Google Play costs are expected to decrease to 25 per cent, but joining the Level Up scheme would reduce costs by a further 5 per cent. However, developers must adopt many of Google ‘ s technologies and meet the requirements to join the Level Up Program. For developers who use web-based shops or other alternative means of settlement, a reduction in the cost of the store may eventually be around 5 per cent.
Despite this, Paul Feng, Vice President of Google Play Engineering, outlined in a blog today what is going to happen. In short, for developers in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, the following store fees will apply as of 30 June:
The above-mentioned shop fees will be applied in Australia as from 30 September 2027, in Japan and the Republic of Korea as from 31 December, and in the rest of the world as from 30 September 2027.
The “new installation” fee applies to transactions that occur on or after the date on which the new cost structure takes effect for the first download or update by the player in the area. The “existing installation” fee is applied to the player who downloads the game before the cost change takes effect.
Google also confirmed the possible shape of the adjusted payment process:
Developers can apply for an additional 5 per cent discount on store fees to join Google ‘ s Level Up Program. To be eligible, game developers must implement Google Play Games Services v2 SDK, Google AI-driven Sidekick, incentive systems, achievements and cloud archiving services.
The developer must also add the Google Play Games on PC so that its game can play on the big screen and meet other stability, performance and graphic standards set by Google.
The costs of the Level Up Plan will be gradually reduced from 30 September 2026, when introduced in Australia, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, and then from 31 December, in Japan and the Republic of Korea, and eventually in the rest of the world by 30 September 2027.