The controversies with Google Play app and game payments initiated by Fortnite had several consequences. Lawsuits, requests to change Google policies by developer groups and more at the expense of the already reduced commissions the company charges when payments are made for downloads or in-app purchases. And now a new function is formalized which opens the payment options to the user.
This is the ability to make payments with other payment methods that will be chosen by the developers themselves. It was in March that Google announced this feature, which was being tested with Spotify. Ultimately, now open to all developersas reported by some media like 9to5Google.
Yes to other payment methods, but report to Google
Currently, when we go to download a paid application from Google Play, we only have the payment system of the store itself. To this we can add several types of payment methods, but all of them have been chosen and verified by the company itself. What’s starting to happen now is the possibility that it’s the developer integrating other payment methods, including its own payment methods that everyone has.
These payment options are open to Google Play app developers, but not for video games.
As we said, this option offered by Google to developers has been tested for several months. What is new and important comes from the fact that this option already is open to any developer in some countries, to be able to start integrating their means of payment now. Of course, it is limited to game developers.
However, it is still treated in a way as a pilot test, since it is also not open to the whole planet. It is only available at the moment in the countries of the European Economic Areaincluding Europe.
In addition, it won’t help developers to avoid commissions that Google imposes. And it is that in addition to complying with the law regarding payments and customer service, the Mountain View company will require notify the invoicing obtained by these new means of payment. According to these, Google will apply its usual rates to commission all purchases.
Since this feature was extended a few hours ago, it will probably take several days or even weeks to see developers implement this feature on Google Play. Going back to the user’s point of view, this should not affect their experience at all, beyond now having other payment options, although chosen by the developer.
Through | 9to5Google
