Google’s overhaul of the Play Store fee structure, cutting commissions from 30 percent to as low as 10 percent and opening the platform to third-party payment systems, takes effect in the US, UK, and European Economic Area on June 30, five days from today.
The changes, announced on March 4 as part of a global settlement with Epic Games, represent the most significant restructuring of Google’s app store economics since its inception.
New fee structure
The standard 30 percent commission on in-app purchases drops to 20 percent for new installs and 15 percent for developers participating in Google’s App Experience or Google Play Games Level Up programs. Auto-renewing subscriptions drop to 10 percent. For developers who continue using Google Play Billing, a separate 5 percent payment processing fee applies in the US, UK, and EEA.
Developers can now offer alternative billing systems alongside Google’s own, or guide users outside their app to complete purchases on their own websites, a notably more permissive approach than Apple’s 2025 settlement, which only allows in-app links to web-based payments.
Third-party app stores
Google is launching a Registered App Stores program that lets approved third-party marketplaces offer a streamlined installation interface. The program requires meeting “certain quality and safety benchmarks.” Fortnite maker Epic Games confirmed the game will return to Play Store globally in conjunction with the changes.
“Fortnite will return to Google Play Store worldwide soon. Epic Games Store continues supporting Android worldwide alongside Windows and Mac, and installation on Android will become much easier later in 2026,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney posted in March.
Rollout timeline
The new fee structure applies in the US, UK, and EEA starting June 30. Australia follows on September 30, Japan and Korea by December 31, and the rest of the world by September 30, 2027. The Registered App Stores program is expected to launch with a major Android update before the end of 2026.
Sources: Google ends its 30 percent app store fee and welcomes third-party app stores (Engadget, March 4, 2026); An Epic Shift for Android (Coda, March 6, 2026)