Google Play’s post-Epic-settlement fee changes reach another market on 30 September 2026: Australia gets the same 20% base service fee already rolled out to the US, UK and EU since June, plus access to the new Games Level Up and Apps Experience programs. Developers who meet Google’s integration and quality bar for the Apps Experience Program can bring their non-recurring, new-install service fee down to 15% — existing-user transactions stay at 20% — and subscription commission drops to a flat 10% regardless of tier or program.
This is a staggered global rollout, not a one-off change: the reduced rates have been landing region by region since mid-2026, with Japan and South Korea still to come by December. Each new market shifts the baseline economics of building a monetised Android app a little further in the developer’s favour, but only for apps that actually qualify — the lower rate card is opt-in and conditional, not automatic.
Why this is worth factoring into a build, not just a launch
A five-point swing in platform commission changes the maths on subscription and in-app-purchase pricing meaningfully over the lifetime of an app, but only if the eligibility requirements are designed for from the start — the quality and integration bar for the Apps Experience Program is specific enough that retrofitting an app to qualify after launch is harder than building to it from day one. For anyone scoping a new Android app, or a cross-platform app with a meaningful Android install base, this is now a genuine input into commercial modelling, not just a platform footnote.
So what
If you’re planning an Android build with in-app purchases or subscriptions, it’s worth checking whether the target market and app category are already covered by the reduced rate card, and building to the Apps Experience Program’s quality requirements rather than treating them as an afterthought. See our iOS & Android work, or get in touch to talk through how platform economics should shape a build.