Epic Games Setting Up Webshops for iOS Developers to Offer Users Out-of-App Purchases

[MacRumors]

Epic Games today announced plans for Epic Games Store Webshops, a feature that will allow developers to launch digital storefronts that are hosted by the Epic Games Store. With Apple's mandated App Store rule changes in the United States, developers will soon be able to direct customers to web shops to make out-of-app purchases, bypassing the in-app purchase flow.

The Epic Games Store will charge developers a 0 percent fee for the first $1,000,000 in revenue they collect per app per year, and after that, developers will need to pay Epic a 12 percent cut. The fees are applicable to all payments that are processed by the Epic Games Store. Epic Games also says that players that spend in Epic Webshops will be able to accrue 5 percent Epic Rewards on all purchases.

Many smaller games do not exceed $1 million in revenue per year, so the Epic Games Store Webshop could be a viable option for small and independent developers. Developers that earn more will likely want to set up their own payment options using online payment platforms like Stripe or Shopify for even lower fees.

Epic's announcement follows a ruling yesterday that will see Apple forced to make major updates to its U.S. App Store policies as part of an ongoing App Store dispute with Epic Games. Apple cannot prevent developers from directing customers to better deals outside of the App Store, nor can the company collect fees for these purchases, among other changes.

Apple was ordered to comply with the order immediately, and the court said that it "will not tolerate further delays." Apple said that it plans to implement the changes as ordered, though it will appeal the decision.

Article Link: Epic Games Setting Up Webshops for iOS Developers to Offer Users Out-of-App Purchases

 

[turbineseaplane]

Good

Hopefully we see a lot of this

Compete for Devs on the terms and support of the Store

(Apple too!)

 

[I7guy]

And yet fortnight won’t be in the iOS app store. Epic is just full of largesse. Let’s see how the customers benefit.

 

[cocky jeremy]

This is about as stupid as forcing Walmart to sell Heinz ketchup but allow customers to pay through the Heinz website. Throw their **** on the shelf just for them to get around you getting paid for it.

 

[dannys1]

Awww nice kind Tim Sweeney....

 

[IceCool]

So I can finally force Target and Walmart to sell my product on their shelves and not have to pay them anything? Awesome!!

 

[iZac]

Can users buy apps with V-bucks?

 

[Mikep976]

This is about as stupid as forcing Walmart to sell Heinz ketchup but allow customers to pay through the Heinz website. Throw their **** on the shelf just for them to get around you getting paid for it.

It’s literally nothing though, that analogy oversimplifies and misrepresents the situation. Apple isn’t a physical retailer like Walmart—it’s a platform provider, more akin to a landlord renting digital space. Developers aren’t asking Apple to list their products for free while sending customers elsewhere to pay—they’re asking for the option to point users to an external checkout, especially when Apple takes up to 30% of revenue on in-app purchases.

A better analogy would be if a mall landlord required every store to give them a 30% cut of every sale made anywhere, even if the customer just found the product at the store and later bought it directly from the brand’s website. That’s not about fairness—it’s monopolistic behavior.

This ruling is about giving developers more freedom, encouraging competition, and giving consumers more choice. Apple still benefits from hosting the app on the App Store, but it shouldn’t control how every dollar flows after that.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Thank you @Mikep976 for a breath of sanity on this topic.

 

[monkey6]

About time!

Apple tried to weasel its way out of the original ruling, and got slapped down, as they deserved to be. Maybe small developers can now grow, by getting a few extra dollars,instead of being squashed to death by giant corporations.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

So EPIC can charge them 30% 🤣

 

[antiprotest]

This is about as stupid as forcing Walmart to sell Heinz ketchup but allow customers to pay through the Heinz website. Throw their **** on the shelf just for them to get around you getting paid for it.

Why are they proud that it has 57 ingredients though? One would think ketchup should have fewer than 10. 🤔

Edit: Someone corrected me and said it's 57 "varieties". 🙇‍♂️

 

[Aeronauts]

If Tim Cook was smart instead of arrogant and greedy he would have implemented a much fairer payment system years ago and avoided all this litigation and fines.

 

[Mikep976]

So EPIC can charge them 30% 🤣

No, actually:

1. epic doesn’t run a mobile store in the US. I hope they someday can, and Apple’s forced open, like in the EU
2. If they did have a store, it’d actually be 0% cut, then 12% after $1 Million in yearly sales.

 

[contacos]

Love the pettiness to be honest.

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

So I can finally force Target and Walmart to sell my product on their shelves and not have to pay them anything? Awesome!!

If they were a monopoly I’m pretty sure you would be able too

 

[windywalks]

It’s literally nothing though, that analogy oversimplifies and misrepresents the situation. Apple isn’t a physical retailer like Walmart—it’s a platform provider, more akin to a landlord renting digital space. Developers aren’t asking Apple to list their products for free while sending customers elsewhere to pay—they’re asking for the option to point users to an external checkout, especially when Apple takes up to 30% of revenue on in-app purchases.

A better analogy would be if a mall landlord required every store to give them a 30% cut of every sale made anywhere, even if the customer just found the product at the store and later bought it directly from the brand’s website. That’s not about fairness—it’s monopolistic behavior.

This ruling is about giving developers more freedom, encouraging competition, and giving consumers more choice. Apple still benefits from hosting the app on the App Store, but it shouldn’t control how every dollar flows after that.

You're cherry picking arguments here.
What about providing bandwidth, curation and safety? Should Apple provide those for free as well?
What you wrote sums up Sweeney's agenda without any counterpoint.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Love the pettiness to be honest.

Agreed

Anyone who's tried to work with Apple knows they are the kings of dictatorial petty BS, so it's not surprising to see this sort of blow back.

 

[turbineseaplane]

You're cherry picking arguments here.
What about providing bandwidth, curation and safety? Should Apple provide those for free as well?
What you wrote sums up Sweeney's agenda without any counterpoint.

Stop with the curation and safety
Please, just stop with that.

 

[MikeSweden]

Bad, bad, bad

Apple has invested billions of dollars in building the infrastructure around computers, phones, iPads, Apple TV and so on. And they continue to invest billions each year in new technology that will benefit the developers and making it possible for them to develop new games and apps that can be even more advanced thanks to new hardware.

Apple have made this business possible in the first place. What's wrong with them benefitting from that more or less forever?

If you don't make it possible for innovators making a giant pile of money in the end, why should they risk the initial investments from the beginning?

 

[GMShadow]

So when is Epic suing Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft to force them to allow third party stores on their consoles?

 

[koelsh]

While I applaud what this means for other developers there's no chance I'm giving payment details to Epic.

 

[I7guy]

If they were a monopoly I’m pretty sure you would be able too

Target and Walmart are in the same monopoly territory as Apple.

 

[koelsh]

Target and Walmart are in the same monopoly territory as Apple.

I'm not sure how Walmart's 6.04% US Retail market share is a monopoly when Apple's phone app market share is 60+%

 

[monkey6]

"While I applaud what this means for other developers there's no chance I'm giving payment details to Epic."

Your giving them to Apple. As well as your money. If you think that's better, you haven't been paying attention.