Google says it has paid over $80 billion to Play Store developers

Google said it has paid more than $80 billion to developers for Play Store apps since the app store was launched in 2012.

Google's Play Store is the largest app store in the world. The store, however, is mostly known for free applications. App developers usually look at Apple's App Store for paid apps and monetise their services. Apple in 2018 revealed its App Store had 500 million weekly visitors and hit $100 billion milestone. According to The Verge, Apple has paid $155 billion to iOS developers so far.

Google's latest report comes at a time when app developers are demanding Google and Apple to reduce their cuts from all developer sales. A high tax on app sales, up to 30%, has led some of the top developers to bypass app stores for their new products.

One of the most famous examples is Fortnite which announced it will distribute the viral game on Android directly rather Play Store. Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney revealed Google had turned down requests to circumvent the 30% revenue cut.

"We have asked that Google not enforce its publicly stated expectation that products distributed through Google Play use Google's payment service for in-app purchase. We believe this form of tying a mandatory payment service with a 30% fee is illegal in this case of a distribution platform with over 50% market share. We note that Google Play's Developer Distribution Agreement does not require developers use Google payments. It merely references a number of non-contractual documents asking developers to do so," Sweeney said in December last year.

Google responded to Sween's comments saying. "Android enables multiple app stores and choices for developers to distribute apps. Google Play has a business model and billing policy that allows us to invest in our platform and tools to help developers build successful businesses while keeping users safe. We welcome any developer that recognized the value of Google Play and expect them to participate under the same terms as other developers."

Back in February last year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also defended the company's decision to impose up to 30% tax on Play Store app sales.

"Thousands of developers rely on it to safely and seamlessly distribute their game to billions of Android users worldwide. And we invest a lot in our infrastructure to continuously make sure the overall experience is safe and results in high engagement for the developers back. So, I think there's a value exchange there. And it's been the industry standard. And so, I think we'll continue down that path but obviously, always adapt to where the market is," he had said.