Web checkout for mobile games

Mobile game D2C (direct to consumer) means selling to players on the web instead of through the App Store's or Google Play's billing, and keeping more of each sale. Court rulings and new store terms in 2025 and 2026 opened the door to it in the US and the EU, and several companies now sell a web shop for mobile games. This guide sets out what changed, where the rules stand as of October 2026 (some are still in court), what the fees really work out to, and what PowerUp does and doesn't do today.

What mobile game D2C means

There are two ways to sell to a mobile player on the web, and the stores treat them differently.

• A link out of the game. The game shows a button that opens your web checkout. The player pays, then goes back to the game. This is what the court cases were about, and the store's rules on links apply.
• A web shop players find on their own. A page on your site that players reach from your Discord, your newsletter or a search. The purchase never touches the app, so no store fee applies. Apple's guidelines say developers can tell their users about other ways to buy outside the app, and its multiplatform rule (3.1.3(b)) lets players use what they bought on your website in your iOS app, consumables included, as long as the same items are also sold through in-app purchase. The hard part is getting players there.

Either way you need the same three things: a way to know which game account is paying, a way to grant the purchase to that account's wallet, and someone to handle sales tax and VAT, because on the web the store isn't doing it for you.

What changed, and where it stands in October 2026

Apple in the US: Epic v. Apple

In 2021 the court in Epic v. Apple ordered Apple to let US apps point players to other ways to pay. Apple's response allowed links but charged a 27% commission on purchases made through them. On April 30, 2025, the district court found Apple in civil contempt and ordered it to stop charging a commission on those purchases and to stop restricting how the links look (the order).

What followed:

• December 11, 2025. The Ninth Circuit upheld the contempt finding, but held that a complete ban on commissions went too far. It said Apple should be able to charge a commission based on the costs genuinely and reasonably necessary to run the links, with some pay for the intellectual property they use, and sent the amount back to the district court to set (the opinion).
• June 30, 2026. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Apple's appeal, limited to when a court can find someone in contempt of an order's spirit rather than its text (the docket). Briefing was still under way in October 2026.
• August 13, 2026. Justice Kagan denied Apple's request to pause the district court in the meantime (it's on the same docket), and Apple asked the district court to approve commissions of up to 15% on linked purchases: 5% for Small Business Program members, 10% for some partner programs and for subscription renewals (TechCrunch, August 14, 2026). As of October 2026 the court hadn't ruled on it.

As of October 2026, Apple's App Review Guidelines say US storefront apps don't need an entitlement to include buttons, external links or other calls to action to other ways of paying, and they set no commission on those sales. A commission is likely to come once the courts are done. Plan your margins with one in them.

Google in the US: Epic v. Google

Epic also won its case against Google, and the court's injunction, upheld by the Ninth Circuit, changed Google Play in the US. Since October 29, 2025, Google says it doesn't stop developers from telling US players about prices elsewhere and doesn't require Play Billing (Google's US policy page). On March 4, 2026, Google and Epic signed a new settlement and asked the court for a revised injunction. Google's page says more details will follow, so check it before you build.

Linking out goes through programs Google opened on December 9, 2025: external content links and alternative billing. For external content links, as of October 2026:

• You enroll in Play Console and use Google's APIs, which show the player an information screen before they leave the app.
• You tell players where the link goes, offer customer support, and offer refunds for purchases made outside Play unless you clearly said a purchase is non-refundable.
• From October 1, 2026, you report those sales and pay Google a service fee on purchases a player completes within 24 hours of following your link: 10% on the first $1M of annual earnings. Above that, subscriptions stay at 10% and other purchases cost 20%, or 15% in Google's Play Games Level Up program.
• A link that leads to an app install carries a per-install fee ($3.65 for games). Google gave developers until February 1, 2027 to report and pay those.

Google's own billing changed too. In the US, the UK and the EEA, since June 30, 2026, Play's service fee is 10% on the first $1M of annual earnings, plus a 5% billing fee when the purchase goes through Play Billing. Above $1M, the rate depends on whether the purchase is a subscription and when the player installed the game.

Apple in the EU: the Digital Markets Act

Under the Digital Markets Act, developers on Apple's App Store should be able to tell EU customers about offers outside the store, free of charge, and let them buy there. On April 23, 2025, the European Commission found Apple in breach of that and fined it €500 million (the Commission's press release).

Apple's EU terms have changed more than once since. Under the terms in force from October 1, 2026 (Apple's EU page):

• A web sale made within 7 days of a player tapping your link carries a 15% store services commission, or 10% for Small Business Program members and for subscriptions after their first year.
• Purchases through Apple's in-app purchase cost 26% in the EU, or 15% for Small Business Program members.
• Apps in the Kids category can't link out to web purchases. Out-of-app offers aren't allowed for users under 13, and players aged 13 to 17 have to pass a parental gate first (some countries set a higher age).
• Developers offering other payment options must keep them for 12 months and report those transactions to Apple monthly.

Everywhere else

Elsewhere, the default rules apply unless a store runs a program for that region. Apple's guidelines bar buttons and links to other ways to pay outside the US storefront, except through link entitlements Apple offers in specific regions. Google's Payments policy requires Play Billing for digital goods such as in-game currency, unless an exception or a regional program applies. Apple's guidelines still let you tell players about other ways to buy outside the app, by email or on your own site.

The fee maths

Here's what you keep from a $10 purchase, before sales tax and VAT, with each store's rates as of October 2026 and a domestic US card on Stripe (2.9% + 30¢, per Stripe's pricing).

A few things the table shows:

• The US iOS link is where the money is today. With no Apple commission set, a linked sale keeps about 94%. That could shrink a lot once a commission is decided.
• On Android in the US, linking out barely pays under $1M a year. Google's 10% plus card fees comes to about what Play Billing costs. On a $50 purchase the link saves about $0.75.
• Small purchases lose on the web. Stripe's fee on a $0.99 coin pack comes to about 33¢, a third of the price, against 15% in a store under its small-business rate. Sell bigger bundles on the web.
• Tax isn't in these numbers. Stores collect and pay it for you. With plain Stripe you collect and pay it yourself. With Stripe Managed Payments, Stripe does, and if your prices include tax it comes out of the $10.
• Leaving the game costs sales. Every extra step loses some players, and a fee table can't show that. Test with a share of players before you move everyone.

Try your own revenue, store fee and web fees in the web checkout fee calculator.

Link-out rules in practice

Before you add a link out of a mobile game:

• Check the storefront. The US rules cover the US storefront and US players, and the EU rules are Apple's own terms. Elsewhere, assume links to other ways to pay aren't allowed unless the store has a program for that region.
• Use the store's flow where there is one. Google's program needs its APIs and enrollment. Apple's EU terms have their own entitlements and reporting.
• Say where the player is going. Make the price, what they get and the refund terms clear on both sides of the link.
• Know who's paying. The web checkout has to know the player's game account, so the purchase lands in the right wallet and a refund can take it back.
• Keep the same protections. Age checks, parental consent and spending limits shouldn't disappear because the purchase moved to the web. Apple's EU terms already bar out-of-app offers to users under 13.
• Handle tax. Register and remit yourself, or use a merchant of record.

Several companies sell hosted web shops for mobile games. Our Xsolla comparison looks at one of them, and what it does well.

What PowerUp does today

PowerUp is a monetization engine for indie games, Godot first. Here's where it stands on D2C, honestly.

What it does now:

• Stripe checkout inside web and desktop builds. A Godot game that also ships to the browser or desktop sells through Stripe there, using your own Stripe account. The Stripe checkout guide shows the code.
• Tax through Stripe Managed Payments, if you switch it on. Stripe becomes the merchant of record and handles sales tax and VAT in more than 80 countries.
• One wallet for all three checkouts. Coins bought through Stripe on the web, the App Store or Google Play all land in the same wallet, and refunds from any of them take back what the purchase gave.
• One product on every platform. You set a product up once and pick where it sells, so the web offer and the in-app purchase are the same item with the same contents.
• The store checkouts on phones. iOS builds sell through the App Store and Android builds through Google Play, with every transaction checked on the server.

What it doesn't do yet:

• No hosted web shop outside the game. There's no PowerUp store page that players open in a browser and sign in to.
• No link-out flow for phone apps. On iOS and Android, PowerUp sells through the store, and its Stripe checkout refuses phone builds. It doesn't handle Google's link program or Apple's link-out terms for you.

What that means in practice: if your game also runs on the web, those players can pay through Stripe today. A player who moves between web and phone with a transfer code takes their wallet with them. Our own game, buggs.io, is set up this way: it's live in the browser and on Google Play, and Stripe, App Store and Google Play checkout are built into its client but not switched on yet.

For how web checkout works in a Godot game, see web checkout for Godot games.