Japan cracks open the App Store and Google Play to rival payment providers and marketplaces

• Apple and Google required to allow third-party app stores, alternative billing, and linkouts in Japan.
• Platforms also cannot give preferential treatment to their own apps and services, and must provide fair access to APIs.

Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) has come into force as of December 18th, 2025 in a move aimed at cracking open the App Store and Google Play to alternative payments and marketplaces.

Apple and Google have been designated as the first “specified providers” under the new guidelines, meaning they have to comply with special rules for large platforms.

This includes allowing third-party app stores, alternative billing, and linkouts to other payment systems and off-store deals.

Platforms are also prohibited from giving their own apps and services an unfair advantage, while these ‘gatekeepers’ must also provide fair access to APIs and device capabilities (such as NFC), and improve transparency around app review and store policies, among other rules.

MSCA explained

Stash chief growth officer Archie Stonehill explained to PocketGamer.biz what the deal means for games companies in practical terms.

“The winners will be the studios that operationalize D2C immediately,” he said. “With Japan’s Smartphone Act entering full enforcement on December 18th, developers in the world’s third-largest in-app purchase market now get something they’ve never had before: regulatory certainty.

“Unlike the United States, where developers have spent years fighting these battles through ex-post litigation, Japan is taking an ex-ante approach that sets the rules upfront. 

“And while the policy is more cautious than the EU’s Digital Markets Act when it comes to issues like sideloading and broader distribution, Japanese regulators are far more explicit in questioning the fairness of the 30% fee. That opens the door for real challenges to the status quo.

“For developers, the impact is straightforward: You now have a legally supported path to control your own purchase flow and bypass the platform tax when it doesn’t fit your economics.

“With Japan joining the DMA in Europe and the Epic vs. Google ruling in the U.S., studios can finally design a unified cross-platform monetisation strategy — one where D2C becomes predictable, margin-accretive, and tied directly into lifecycle and economy systems rather than sitting off to the side. 

“The specifics of enforcement will evolve, but the trend is clear: the ecosystem is opening up, and the studios that build these systems early will capture the compounding advantage.”