It’s fair to say that April 30, 2025 was a watershed moment for the mobile gaming landscape. That was when the Epic vs. Apple ruling in the United States prohibited Apple from discouraging links to third-party storefronts, or collecting fees on any payments made outside the App Store (Apple is appealing the outcome).
“This ruling has probably been a long time coming,” says Berkley Egenes, chief marketing & growth officer at monetisation specialists Xsolla.
“We do think [the ruling will] stick in the US, based on the appeal that happened recently and then that was upheld. [You’ll] be able to have that direct link capability from [within the] app, no matter who you are: if you’re Spotify, a video game, or everybody in between that has some monetisation.”
Egenes points out, too, that the Epic vs. Apple outcome is having “a ripple effect” across the world.
“It’s not just the United States,” he says. Egenes draws attention to the Digital Markets Act in Europe, which is currently at odds with Apple over payments that circumvent its ecosystem.
“South America is watching this. The folks in Korea are watching this as well, because there’s been a push to allow third-party payments outside the app experience, and to give options and give that capability. It’s an ‘and’ statement, not an ‘or’ statement.”
“We’re seeing an uptick in developers wanting, from all over, from indies to triple-A, to just look at their monetisation strategies, to look at the opportunities they have”
Berkley Egenes, Xsolla
For a company that specialises in helping developers and publishers set up monetisation options and reaching specific markets – therefore being an obvious beneficiary from this sea change – it’s a big opportunity.
“It has been an interesting cycle,” Egenes says. “The week of Wednesday, April 30 had a lot of people [saying], ‘whoa, okay, this happened’. Then it was a lot of conversation: what does this really mean? And now it’s [a case of], ‘Okay, let’s go experiment.’ So it’s kind of been that three-phased approach.”
There is significant interest from developers in exploring new monetisation options with their own branding and approach in the wake of the ruling, according to Egenes.
“We’re seeing an uptick in developers wanting, from all over, from indies to triple-A, to just look at their monetisation strategies, to look at the opportunities they have. The flexibility was very narrow and focused before, but now [that’s opened up] and they have the flexibility of doing IAPs, direct links to a single SKU, and a direct link to a webshop that has a whole [host] of offers and opportunities.”
With Apple’s 15-30% commission no longer a factor in the States, the path is clear for developers and publishers to build webshops that suit their products. Xsolla’s 5% transaction fee makes it appealing next to the competition.
Make mine Marvel
The company has shared one high profile example of a mobile title that’s made that move already: the popular card-battling game Marvel Snap.
“The new webshop that came out from those guys is tremendously successful already,” Egenes says.
The Marvel Snap shop incentivises purchases outside app stores by giving players an exclusive seasonal rewards system for each dollar they spend, thereby making it more likely they’ll avoid using traditional in-app purchases.
“People are able to move fast. When there are live ops teams that are supporting the studio and really engaging with the players, you’re seeing these offers and these opportunities come up faster – it’s been very, very quick.”
Indeed, the same week as the ruling, developers were already trying to figure out the mechanics of how to circumvent the App Store.
“Some people tested on the Friday after the announcement, because they were ready to go. We’ve had others that have some IP, so they have to go through some reviews and approvals, and there are some others that want to see what else is going on, see what people are doing and how they’re making that happen.”
Egenes mentions that one factor behind the rush is the US summer vacation period, and the resulting increase in spare time for players during these months. “We’ve definitely seen accelerated timelines with folks.”
Egenes fully expects traditional in-app purchases to remain part of the mobile gaming experience. The opportunity for developers is not just the smaller cut, but to get creative with how monetisation links are presented to players.
“Some people tested on the Friday after the announcement, because they were ready to go”
Berkley Egenes, Xsolla
“You’re still going to support in-app purchases for your game when somebody’s in a session, and they just need to level up – they’re going to do that,” says Egenes. “But now, with the direct link webshop, you could do performance-based offers that say, hey, you just ran out of currency, ran out of gems, you ran out of weapons, whatever it is based on the gameplay.”
“You could provide that as a direct link and go, ‘hey, level up right here’. Some of those things you’re going to start seeing people experiment with.”
For players with addictive personalities, that’s the sort of monetisation approach that sounds like a living hell. Yet the key thing for developers is that it’s ultimately up to them how those options are presented, and what’s right for their player base.
“From a game developer [standpoint], it has been very positive. ‘Now we have some freedom, now we have some capability. Let’s do some creative things.'”
Xsolla sees its role in the process of building webshops as being consultants and educators, to some extent, as developers experiment with the best approach to building out their store offerings.
“We take more of the learning or a consultative approach with the games that we engage with,” Egenes says. “There’s a lot of, ‘hey, we saw this [approach] on this type of genre game. You have a very similar genre. You should explore this.’ This is what we’re seeing.”
This process doesn’t involve sharing data or any sensitive information, but rather passing along best practices from the 500+ webshops already launched by Xsolla before the April 30 ruling. Developers will also ask similar questions in return about how they can learn from past efforts at monetising games.
“We are then very clear in the guidance that we provide that if it gets into the grey area of Terms of Service, you still have to follow those rules in those processes from the TOS,” Egenes explains.
The Steam factor
The Epic vs. Apple verdict also generated chatter around Valve’s 20-30% cut on PC games via Steam, with some developers suggesting the bar could be lowered to permit smaller teams to succeed more easily on the platform.
This is not a new topic of discussion – the cut is already the subject of a class-action lawsuit – and the circumstances are not 1:1. Valve permits 5,000 keys to be sold on other stores (as discussed in a recent GamesIndustry.biz guest op-ed), with further requests pending its approval.
“It is a topic of discussion, but because they offer those key sales, there’s not as much attention on it right now,” Egenes says when asked about Steam’s approach to taking a cut. “The mobile providers weren’t offering [that] as an option, it was [a case of] ‘you must buy here’. And that was what the courts’ point of view is.”
Still, Egenes believes some evolution in how PC keys are distributed is likely.
“I think you’ll start to see some things in different platforms, such as Steam, evolving and expanding their practices. That’s our prediction, that you’ll see more key distributions off platforms. But those ceilings do exist, what you can and cannot do there, and how much cost you can go up to.”
Egenes believes Valve will be “pro-active”, but make modifications rather than big changes.
“Like we always say: launch your game on Steam,” Egenes says. “Launch your game in iOS, in the App Store, launch it on Google Play. Be on those platforms where everybody is, and then you can adjust your monetisation strategies according to terms of service.”
The platforms, after all, are still enormous discovery engines for prospective players, with the wishlist function of Steam serving as one of the main awareness and interest barometers for developers and publishers.
“Focus on Steam, get wishlists, get everything,” Egenes says. “Go do that, and then you can set up other programs too, owning that direct-to-consumer experience by doing game key sales online as well.”
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
