Google will force developers to use its payment system in the Play Store, with some exceptions

The expulsion of Fortnite from the Play Store a few weeks ago revealed a problem that many developers are facing: the payment system in the Play Store. Epic Games broke the rules and introduced a direct payment system. Although for a long time, Google has been less strict than Apple when it comes to enforcing these types of rules.

It seems that those days have come to an end, because it was rumored that Google was going to force application developers to use its payment system in the Play Store and now it is official. The company will make mandatory use your own system for in-app purchases, those that are done within games and applications on Android.

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Already a few days ago the news broke with these Google plans, that seeks to be more strict with the developers, thus taking note of what Apple does, which has historically been more strict in this type of matter. As a consequence, a series of restrictions are applied in the following regulations:

• Developers offering products in a game download on Google Play or providing access to game contentmust useGoogle Play In-app Billing as a payment method.
• Developers offering products in another category of application downloaded on Google Playmust useGoogle Play In-app Billing as a payment method, except in the following cases:
  • Payments for physical products.
  • Payments for digital content that can be consumed outside of the application.

By forcing developers to use its payment system, the company is also forcing them to pay the corresponding commission of 30% for the income obtained, in this case for purchases within the application or game. A commission that has been criticized on many occasions by developers, who see it as excessive. It is also the same commission that Epic Games considered unacceptable and that has played an important role in its expulsion from the Play Store.

This measure by Google is already opposed, because various companies have come together to create the Coalition for App Fairness, seeking among other things to fight against this monopoly system in these app stores, as was announced a few days ago. So the controversy is served with this decision of the Play Store.

Developers are given one year of time to switch to this payment system. The decision made by Google will not enter into force until September 30, 2021. Systems like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate would be an exception and would not have, at least Google suggests, in the same way as Fortnite purchases themselves.

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