Google’s CEO Describes the Revenue Split as “Industry Standard”
During an earnings call last Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company’s mobile digital distribution platform, Google Play, won’t change the current 30% revenue cut it takes from developers that have games on the platform.
“On Google Play, obviously, we do this at scale, thousands of developers rely on it to safely and seamlessly distribute their game to billions of Android users worldwide,” Pichai said when he was asked about the revenue cut. “And we invest a lot in our infrastructure to continuously make sure their overall experience is safe and results in high engagement and for the developer’s back. So I think there’s a value exchange there and it’s been the industry standard. And so, I think we will continue down that path and — but obviously always adapt to where the market is.”
Last year, it was revealed that the mobile version of Fortnite wouldn’t be available on Google Play due to the aforementioned revenue cut that Google gets.
“The 30 per cent store tax is a high cost in a world where game developers’ 70 per cent must cover all the cost of developing, operating, and supporting their games,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told GamesIndustry.biz in 2018.
The fact that one of the most popular games in the world isn’t on Google Play is pretty notable but it sounds like Google won’t be changing course any time soon when it comes to the revenue split.
What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.