Google Play's US Billing Changes: Fees Start October 1, 2026. What Game Developers Should Do
For more than a decade, US developers on Google Play had one way to sell digital items: Google Play Billing. The Epic v. Google case changed that. As of October 1, 2026, the new programs have moved from a free trial period to a paid one. If you link out to a web shop or use your own billing, this affects your margins.
The timeline
- September 12, 2025: The Ninth Circuit upheld the injunction from the Epic Games case.
- October 29, 2025: Google’s US policy changed. Developers may tell users about prices outside Google Play, and Google no longer requires Play Billing for US users.
- December 9, 2025: Google launched the External Content Links and Alternative Billing programs for US users.
- June to July 2026: Google told developers their listings would be shared with third-party US Android stores through the Play Catalog Access Program unless they opted out by July 22, 2026.
- October 1, 2026: Enrolled developers start reporting transactions and paying the service fees.
- December 1, 2026: Extended deadline for External Content Links participants to report successful downloads.
How the fees work
Google set reduced service fees for these programs, with lower rates for auto-renewing subscriptions than for one-time purchases. The External Content Links program can also charge per-install fees when a user installs an app after following a link. The exact percentages were revised during the Epic settlement process. Check the rate in your own Play Console before you model anything. Don’t rely on a figure from a blog post written months ago, including this one.
Is linking out worth it for a game?
For most free-to-play mobile games, probably not for everything. Here’s why:
- Conversion drops when users leave the app. Every extra step loses buyers. A web checkout needs to convert at nearly the same rate as a one-tap Play purchase, or the fee savings disappear.
- The fee gap is smaller than it looks. Play Billing already charges 15% on your first $1M per year and on subscriptions. For many indie studios, the saving from going external is a few percentage points.
- You take on payment operations. Refunds, chargebacks, fraud, sales tax and support become your job.
Where it can make sense:
- High-value bundles and whales. A web shop with bonus currency for $49.99+ packs can be worth the friction for your most engaged spenders.
- Subscriptions and battle passes with long lifetimes, where a few points of margin add up.
- Cross-platform games that already run a web store for PC or console players.
A sensible way to test
- Keep Play Billing as the default for all purchases.
- Offer an external option only for one or two high-value SKUs, to a share of US users.
- Measure net revenue per payer, after fees, payment processing and refunds, not gross revenue.
- Track whether showing the external offer reduces in-app conversion for everyone else.
- Scale it only if net revenue per US payer goes up over a full 30-day cohort.
Where we can help
We design IAP economies, store offers and hybrid monetization for mobile games, and we can model whether external billing pays off for your specific revenue mix. Book a monetization consultation.
Sources: Google Play Console Help: US policy update · Neon: Google Play’s new US billing and linking policies · Notebookcheck: Google cuts Play Store fees after Epic settlement