Google Play Store Cuts Fees Globally While Apple Faces Fragmented Rules

Published by Carl Sanson on June 24, 2026June 24, 2026

What You Need to Know

Epic Games won lawsuit against Google, forcing Play Store fee and payment policy changes.
Google will lower fees to 10% base rate and allow alternative payment methods starting June 2024.
New policy rolls out globally by September 2027, with link-out fees of 20% for high earners.
Apple faces fragmented country-by-country restrictions while Google implements single coherent global framework.

A lawsuit Epic Games won against Google is now reshaping how the Play Store operates globally, and the ripple effects may reach Apple’s own ongoing legal battle.

Google announced it will lower fees and accept alternative payment options starting June 30 in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Economic Area. Developers can use any billing system they choose and link users directly to external websites for purchases. The updated rules will extend to Australia, Japan, and South Korea by the end of 2026, with the rest of the world following by September 2027.

The new fee structure is layered:

A base 10% service fee on the first $1 million in annual earnings
20% for new installs and 25% for existing installs on earnings above $1 million
An additional 5% on top of base fees for transactions processed through Google’s own billing system
Link-out fees of 20% for apps earning over $1 million annually

Google also introduced two programs, Games Level Up and Apps Experience, with fees ranging from 10% to 20% for qualifying developers. Both programs open to applicants in September.

What This Means for Apple

The contrast with Apple’s situation is where things get interesting. Apple is currently navigating a disjointed set of restrictions and fees applied country by country, with no single worldwide policy. In the US, Apple cannot charge commissions on links to external purchase pages, while the Digital Markets Act governs its behavior in the EU. Google now has one coherent global framework; Apple does not.

The source article notes directly that Google’s changes could influence the eventual outcome of Epic v. Apple. Apple and Google have historically charged similar fees, and a court watching Google voluntarily adopt 10% to 20% rates worldwide creates an obvious reference point. Apple is currently charging $0 on US App Store links while that fee structure remains unsettled, which means the comparison will almost certainly surface in court.

Source: Google Lowering Play Store Fees and Allowing Alternative Payments Worldwide (macrumors.com)