This is an excerpt from a special report co-written with our partners at Neon. To read the whole report, click here.

A new mobile gold rush is underway. Thanks to a combination of court rulings and policy reforms, direct-to-consumer (DTC) payments are rapidly becoming a core part of mobile gaming business models. Game and app publishers are seizing the opportunity to replace the 30% platform fees with far more reasonable alternatives, leading to improving margins, accelerating cash flow, and controlling their own player data. Importantly, leading DTC strategies are now embracing multi-layered tactics with the goal of creating high-functioning commerce engines.

Today, we’re unveiling fresh insights and data behind some of the biggest mobile studios’ and publishers’ DTC strategies. With support from Neon, our partner and the leading DTC merchant of record for mobile games, and insights from diverse mobile game publishers (including Stillfront, Ten Square Games, DECA Games, and Dorian), we’re pulling back the curtain and sharing the exact tactics world-class companies have used to unlock DTC success.

How We Got Here

Tim Sweeney (CEO of Epic Games) has long been outspoken about Apple’s and Google’s 30% app store tax, labeling them as "parasitic." Eventually, he decided to take action. 

In August 2020, Epic Games (or Epic) ignited a global fight over app store control when the company added an alternative payment system to Fortnite, bypassing Apple’s and Google’s fees. Both companies banned the game, prompting Epic to open antitrust lawsuits and create the viral #FreeFortnite campaign. However, what began as a stunt became a years-long regulatory battle over how the mobile ecosystem operates.

Epic’s trial against Apple ended with a nuanced ruling: Apple was not found to be a monopoly but its antisteering rules (barring developers from pointing users to external payment options) were struck down. Similar suits followed against Google.

While appeals and international filings took place between 2022 through 2024, momentum began to shift. Domestically, Google was found guilty of monopolizing Android app distribution and in-app billing, and Apple held onto its narrow legal win. However, both companies faced mounting pressures from Europe’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA), which labeled both app stores as “gatekeepers.” European regulators eventually forced both companies to ease their app store policies, which paved the way for Fortnite’s return to iOS in Europe.

In 2025, momentum accelerated. The EU charged Apple €500M for anti-steering violations, Fortnite returned to US app stores, and Google lost its appeal, which triggered Google Play reforms that opened up external billing to all developers. Most recently, Epic and Google reached a proposed settlement allowing in-game links and reduced platform fees while applying their new fee schedule to outside webshops accessed by in-app clickthroughs. This is pending legal approval, which seems unlikely given the Apple ruling expressly forbade all outside-of-app fees and commissions.

Either way, after five years of protracted global litigation, Epic’s campaign succeeded in forcing the first meaningful cracks in the mobile app store duopoly. 

Where We Are Now

Overall, 2025 has been a watershed year for digital platform regulation and litigation. In the US, Epic’s persistence yielded significant courtroom wins, which at the time of writing allows all iOS and Android apps to surface alternative payment methods and skirt the app store toll in the US. Additionally, Rep. Cammack introduced the App Store Freedom Act in May 2025, which “seeks to promote competition and protect consumers and developers in the mobile app marketplace by prohibiting certain anticompetitive practices by dominant app store operators.” It is currently under consideration by lawmakers.

The falling dominoes of regulatory changes are also increasingly global. In Europe, the DMA moved from theory to reality, and the UK Parliament passed a Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill in 2024 with similar provisions. Elsewhere, we see South Korea’s In-App Prohibition Law, Japan’s Antimonopoly Law, Brazil’s order to allow alternative in-app payments, and even Epic Games’ win over Apple and Google in Australia. Each country’s approach varies, but the momentum of change is undeniable.

While some questions remain unresolved, the trajectory is becoming clearer by the day: both Apple and Google in 2025 began loosening their grip on the once-ironclad app ecosystems in the face of legal and regulatory pressure. This represents a major shift toward platform openness on both sides of the Atlantic, one driven in large part by Epic’s legal crusade and the EU’s regulatory zeal.

This shift toward platform openness is a huge deal for mobile game publishers — filled with enormous opportunity. You won’t want to miss the rest of the report, which explores:

• Case studies of how leading mobile publishers have implemented DTC strategies (and recaptured billions in profits).
• The types of DTC implementations today (including best practices).
• Advice to mobile publishers on how they can transform their webshops and checkout experiences into sophisticated and powerful end-to-end commerce engines.
• Our take on where the future of mobile DTC is headed in the coming years.

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In Other News

💸 Funding & Acquisitions:

• Tencent’s €1.16B Ubisoft investment on track to close in coming days as H1 bookings rise.
• Stan secures new Series A investment from Sony Innovation Fund.
• Stash acquires Galleon to expand global DTC footprint in games.
• Hypixel acquires Hytale back from Riot Games.
• Duolingo seeks more ‘acqui-hires’ after buying up Space Ape/NextBeat talent.

📊 Business & Products:

• Fortnite is getting Unity games.
• Modern Times Group net sales double to $315.5M in Q3 2025.
• Apple launches Mini Apps Partner Program with reduced commission on qualifying in-app purchases.
• Exel by Merak welcomes 19 startups for its Cohort 2 accelerator.
• AppsFlyer launches eight new products including agentic AI suite.

👾 Miscellaneous:

• Roblox will require age estimation to chat starting next year.
• YouTube policy update: new rules for gambling, violent gaming videos, and streaming.
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads Game Awards 2025 nominations.
• EA resurrects Plants vs. Zombies 3, adds new Sims soft launch.
• Yacooba’s Norberto Cruz on Realizing a 30-Year-Old Story Through a Five-Game Saga.

Content Worth Consuming

2025 Game Industry Salary Report: The Complete Picture of Pay, Benefits, and Job Security Across the U.S. Game Industry (GDC Festival of Gaming): “Are you being paid what you're worth? How does your compensation stack up against your peers? What's really happening with job security in the game industry? For the first time, GDC Festival of Gaming presents a comprehensive analysis of compensation across every role that makes games successful in the United States, from audio designers and programmers to marketing professionals and studio executives.”

An Interview with Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg About Turnarounds (Stratechery): “This week’s Stratechery interview is with Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg. Bromberg took over Unity last year, and previously worked at Zynga, EA, Major League Gaming, and AOL. In this interview — which ended up being primarily about Bromberg, who I found fascinating — we discuss the lessons learned in a career centered around turnarounds. Bromberg helped rescue AOL’s relationship with EA, which led to him being hired by EA and turning around Star Wars: Knights of the Republic. After that he helped turnaround Zynga, and now his task is to turnaround Unity. We discuss each of these steps in his career, and how he is bringing lessons learned to bear to make Unity into a better business.”

Your Validation Passed. Your Players Hated It. Here’s Why. (GameMakers Podcast): “Most game studios either skip validation entirely or waste hundreds of thousands on academic testing that doesn't move the needle. Both approaches kill products. In this episode, we discuss why product validation is the difference between success and years of wasted development — and introduces two frameworks to fix your process.”

In the Mirror World of Mobile, AI Outrage is Remarkably Absent (gamesindustry.biz): “There are few issues in the games industry right now that are as divisive as generative AI. Some see it as a way to make games more quickly and explore new possibilities, while others point to its unreliability and sometimes dubious ethical and legal status, not to mention the threat it places on jobs as well as the craft of making games more generally. Just this week, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney waded into the argument over the use of AI voice generation in Arc Raiders, a technology that has had game actors up in arms (and out on strike). But whereas arguments are still raging over the use of AI in the PC and console space, the mobile games industry has been quietly embracing the technology for years now.”

Exploring AI-Powered Creativity in Games withLiminal Experiences (Playing With Inference): “Join the 'Playing with Inference' podcast as hosts dive into the intersection of creativity in games and the role of AI, featuring guests Brendan Mulligan and Dave Lieberman, co-founders of Liminal Experiences. They discuss the development of 'Liminal Skies,' a game allowing players to design AI-powered characters. Brendan and Dave share their backgrounds at Riot Games and startups, and explore the ideas behind their creative AI storytelling platform. The episode delves into the balance between narrative storytelling and simulation, the potential of generative AI in game development, and the future trends in the gaming industry. Don't miss this insightful discussion on the innovative approaches of Liminal Experiences to bringing creativity and AI together in gaming.”

Obsidian’s Josh Sawyer’s Thoughts on Creating Engaging RPGs (The AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook): “Alexa Ray Corriea chats with Josh Sawyer, Studio Design Director at Obsidian Entertainment. Together they discuss his thoughts on developing RPGs; what he learned from working at legendary studio Black Isle Studios; how to successfully adapt Dungeons & Dragons to video games; writing for games with dialogue stacks; parsing and implementing feedback while keeping true to your creative vision; and balancing RNG to improve player experiences.”

More About Naavik

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