Top 50 mobile games could all face higher 20% fee under Epic and Google's Play Store plans

• Sensor Tower data suggests 37 of the 50 top-grossing Play Store games featured loot boxes in October 2025.
• Under Google's new policy, all of October's top 50 grossers may face the new 20% fee on all or some of their in-app purchases, based on our investigation.
• Fees will be determined by how advantageous a game's purchases are for a player, but the specifics aren't clear-cut.

All of October's US top grossing mobile games on Android in the US may face the highest tier of Google Play Store fees under a new proposal by Google and Epic Games that could shake up the way titles monetise, a PocketGamer.biz investigation has uncovered.

Following the years-long battle between Google and Epic, in which Google was labelled a monopoly, the US Play Store was cracked open recently with an injunction preventing the marketplace from blocking alternative payments, linkouts and rival stores.

Both companies have now filed a proposed amendment that would seek to make substantial changes to the injunction. Google and Epic are looking to make Play Store changes globally, rather than just in the US.

Instead of a blanket reduction in Google's revenue cut, a new fee will be applied to games that will vary by the type of in-app purchase they sell.

If purchases provide "more than a de minimis gameplay advantage" - which includes but is not limited to purchases that impact game outcomes, gameplay progress or player power, or purchases with random outcomes such as loot boxes - they will face a 20% fee.

Titles that "do not provide more than a de minimis gameplay advantage" - which includes content, levels, events or cosmetic items, or in-app subscriptions for apps - will face a 9% fee.

Google will also charge separately for its own billing service, which is set at 5%. This is similar to what direct-to-consumer platforms charge.

How games monetise

Epic's Fortnite monetises largely through cosmetics - specifically named in the injunction amendment - which likely brings it in line with the 9% royalty fee. It is worth noting, however, that new changes to Fortnite are set to bring in-island transactions to the game, which could feature different types of monetisation.

PocketGamer.biz investigated how the new fees, based on our understanding of their implementation, would impact the top 50 grossing US Google Play mobile games in October 2025.

Our investigation found that all of the top 50 titles would likely face the 20% charge on all or some of their IAPs. Most games typically feature in-app purchases that can impact gameplay outcomes, such as reducing timers, obtaining boosters, or gaining new characters with powerful abilities. The latter could be a grey area, however, depending on how "gameplay advantage" is defined.

According to Sensor Tower data, 37 of the 50 highest-earning games on the Play Store this October featured loot boxes. These included FirstFun’s Last War: Survival, Scopely’s Monopoly Go, and DeNA’s Pokémon TCG Pocket in the form of card packs.

Loot boxes can contain various items, from cosmetics to rare, powerful or useful rewards like a weapon or character.

12 of the top 50 games last month featured gachas, such as HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact and Cygames’ Umamusume: Pretty Derby.

Meanwhile, 21 of October’s top 50 Play Store games featured monetised timers, allowing players to skip cooldowns. Such games included Century Games’ Kingshot and Microfun’s Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story.

Boosters, like Candy Crush’s Lollipop Hammer or Royal Hammers in Royal Match that make levels easier to complete, can also be purchased in some of the world's top mobile games. While Sensor Tower doesn’t show data on boosters specifically, these are typically consumable items. 31 of the top 50 games featured monetised consumables last month.

A fine line

There is currently some confusion around exactly how Google would manage these changes and what constitutes a gameplay advantage for certain IAPs. Google and Epic's proposal gives some clarity to titles offering varying types of purchases:

"For an in-app or linked purchase of virtual currency which can be used to obtain multiple kinds of items whose service fees differ, the higher service fee may apply until and unless a portion of the virtual currency use can be attributed and pro-rated to items bearing the lower service fee."

What denotes an advantage isn’t clear-cut. A battle pass could be advantageous, for example, if completing its bonus missions leads to unique or useful rewards.

Though, if purchasing a battle pass doesn’t outright acquire those rewards, but rather tasks players with completing premium challenges to earn them, then whether that lands at a 9% or 20% fee is unclear.

In-app subscriptions are highlighted as an example of business models that could see a 9% fee applied. But there are cases where the implementation can see a gameplay advantage, potentially opening them to higher royalties.

In Pokémon TCG Pocket - one of the biggest mobile game launches of the past few years - a subscribed player can open three "free" card packs per day instead of two, giving them more attempts at obtaining rare cards that can then be used in PvP.

Starter packs could also be considered advantageous. The purpose of such packs is typically to provide new players with items as either an early boost or to help them close the gap towards others who have played for longer. Starter packs were present in 45 of the top 50 games last month.

In many gachas, players can build sufficient teams to compete without ever spending, meaning obtaining the latest character doesn’t always strictly mean an advantage.

On the other hand, in many cases the new gacha characters will have powerful new skills that outcompete even the best-built older units, with monetisation models built around encouraging players to keep rolling for the latest powerhouse.

Some gachas are more on-the-nose with new unit advantages, such as Fire Emblem Heroes giving the latest gacha characters a bonus in its Arena mode for their first few weeks post-release. Pokémon Masters, meanwhile, features a rewards multiplier if relevant characters are used to complete an event, with the latest premium gacha characters typically bringing the best multipliers.

Down to the definition

Some games have more complexities in how Google's fees can be applied. In Pokémon Go, currency can be spent on a new outfit, a Raid Ticket, Poké Balls or a combination of these. With monetisation models built deeply into game design, it could be a complex task for a developer and Google to calculate revenue share.

Many social casino games require coins to continue betting and help unlock new games, which can be obtained for free or by purchasing them. One monetisation expert told Pocketgamer.biz that as social games usually sell extra currency and cosmetics, they would expect the former to be considered gameplay-affecting and the latter not.

When it comes to cosmetic IAPs, Sensor Tower data shows 28 of the top 50 grossing games last month were found to feature cosmetic sales.

Epic and Google's new proposal notes that the tech giant "may charge the higher service fee for a bundle that includes items subject to two different service fees". Individual transactions through virtual currency can be attributed and pro-rated to items bearing the lower service fee.

If Google only charges games monetised specifically with loot boxes, gacha mechanics or consumable items at 20%, 43 games out of October's top 50 grossers would face the higher charge.

The revenue share will depend largely on how Google implements the new policy and how these rules evolve over time with new monetisation models.

Google and Epic did not respond to a request for comment and clarification on the rules in time for publication.

Learn the latest about the regulatory landscape for mobile app stores at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 19th and 20th, 2026.