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Facebook has taken a proactive step with regards to revenue sharing, opting to forego the 30 per cent stake it was taking of money earned from in-game purchases via its Instant Games service on Android.
The move comes on Android only because of the fact Google still claims a 30 per cent revenue share for in-game purchases on its OS. Once Facebook had taken its 30 per cent of the remaining funds, developers were being left with just 49 per cent of the purchase price. By making this move, developers of Instant Games, which currently features hundreds of titles to play, will only have to pay Google when their titles see purchases made on Android.
The move is being set up retroactively from August 1, with developers who saw purchases made since then set to receive a refund for the revenue funnelled to Facebook – and from now on, the platform simply won’t take any of the cash made on Android.
In-app purchases rolled out on Instant Games earlier this year, in which it was stated ‘an additional cut may be taken by the mobile platform’, so this isn’t fresh news to Facebook – it seems giving developers less than half what they’re initially paid was a bit too much for the social media giant.
Facebook will still offer user-acquisition campaigns in which it will be able to profit via Android, and the 70/30 revenue split remains in force for purchases made via the web, away from the grabby hands of Google.
