Google Prepares to Drop Play Store Fees and Expand Billing Choices

After the legal battle between Google and Epic Games reached its conclusion in March, Google is getting ready to act on the terms of the worldwide settlement. Starting on June 30, 2026, Google will lower its Play Store fees for developers in the US, the UK, and the European Economic Area.

The core of Epic Games’ antitrust battle against Google was the 30% cut the company used to take on Google Play Store transactions. Google was also preventing developers from offering cheaper alternatives via external payment solutions.

Well, as part of the global settlement with Epic Games, Google will implement lower fees on the Play Store. The company will also allow developers to use their own billing systems alongside Google Play billing within their apps, or redirect users to web-based payment solutions.

To lower its Play Store fees, Google has decided to separate its service fee from the billing fee, which will only apply to transactions running through Google Play’s billing system. In the US, the UK, and the EEA, the billing fee on transactions that use Google Play’s billing system is set at 5%

The service fee is a bit more complex: It will start a 10% on all transactions, including auto-renewing subscriptions, for developers’ first $1 million in annual earnings. The table below details the rates for all other transactions.

Google also announced some upcoming updates to its Games Level Up and Apps Experience programs, which will offer lower service fees to developers who meet the requirements to join them. Lastly, the company plans to expand billing choices and lower its service fees to more markets over the coming months. The changes will come into effect in Australia on September 30, 2026, with Japan and Korea to follow on December 31. The expanded billing choice and lower fees will become available in the rest of the world by September 30, 2027.