Google Play Store opens external billing starting June 30

Google announced today that it will open the Play Store to third-party payments starting June 30 in the US, UK, and Europe.

in a Android Developer Blog PostGoogle details changes being made to Play Store billing rules on Android, changes made after a years-long legal dispute with Epic Games that (mostly) Completed earlier this year..

Today’s announcement sets a start date for lower rates and the ability for Android developers to use third-party billing alongside Play Store distribution: June 30. That’s when updates go live for major markets, including the US, UK, and European Economic Area.

The new policy calls for developers to pay 10% fees on their first $1,000,000 in annual earnings, regardless of the billing method, whether it’s Google Play Billing, an alternative built-in system, or external links for out-of-app billing. This is well below the 30% cut that was standard when this whole dispute began.

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After the first $1,000,000, Google’s fees increase for transactions other than auto-renewing subscriptions, with “new installs” taking a smaller cut than “existing installs,” the latter referring to users who had the app installed before this policy change. There is also a 5% fee for using Google Play Billing, should developers choose to use it.

Google explains:

Whether you use Google Play’s billing system, alternative billing, or external web links, the service fee starts at 10% of your first million dollars (USD) of annual earnings. This 10% service fee also applies to all auto-renewing subscriptions…

For other transactions, the service fee will be determined based on whether the transacting user’s installation is new or existing in relation to the regional implementation date:

New facilities– A transaction from a user whose first app installation or update from Google Play occurred on or after the date the new fee structure was launched in their region.

Existing facilities– A transaction from a user whose first app install or update from Google Play occurred before the date the new fee structure launches in your marketplace.

For transactions using the Google Play billing system, an additional billing charge applies. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Economic Area, the billing rate is set at 5%. We will announce billing rate details for other markets soon. For transactions processed through alternative billing or external web links, the billing fee is waived.

Rates also drop for apps that qualify for Google “Level up” either “App experience” programs, which encourage developers to better support alternative Android form factors, have high quality and low crash rates, and support features that Google recommends. Those programs will go into effect at the end of September.