Here’s how Google describes its fee-reducing Apps Experience and Games Level Up programs | The Verge

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Here’s how Google describes its fee-reducing Apps Experience and Games Level Up programs

Google wants more apps on tablets, headsets, TVs, and PCs.

Google wants more apps on tablets, headsets, TVs, and PCs.

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Today, Google killed its 30 percent app store fee, partially uncoupled Google Play from Google Play Billing after they were declared an illegal monopoly in the US, and much more.

From July, depending on where you live, Google will now generally charge developers 20 percent for in-app purchases, or 10 percent for subscriptions — but it’s also carving out several new categories of app which might pay differently. One of them is the mysterious new “metaverse browsers” category, whose details have been redacted.

But Google is public that two other programs, Apps Experience and Games Level Up will let developers save up to 5 percent more of their hard-earned cash — if they make games and apps run well on at least one additional form factor beyond phones, like XR headsets, an Android television or PC, or Android Auto, while integrating with various Google services and following certain best practices.

Not every app will need to appear on every kind of device: “Distribution on Play on all form factors will not be required,” reads Google’s court document.

Google spokesperson Dan Jackson tells us more details are coming soon, but we can already see the broad strokes in a binding term sheet filed with the Epic v. Google courtroom:

To be in the Games Level Up Program, gaming titles must meet the following requirements. These requirements will be updated on a regular cadence with reasonable developer notice.

a. Developers must publish titles on the following form factors with exemplary quality (as defined by the requirements below) starting in 2026: Mobile & Large Screen (Tablet, Android PC, Play Games on PC); starting 2027: XR (with titles running in a 2D window on the XR device), TV, Auto, except where the form factor’s constraints would meaningfully degrade a quality experience on that form factor (such as a location-based GPS experience on a TV), and except on particular devices where there is not a viable technical solution to provide a quality experience due to system constraints (e.g. memory, performance, storage, input, or operating system version).

When a game title in the Level Up program is published on one of these additional form factors the service fee rate caps in Section 9 will apply to that game title on that form factor.

i. Stability: Frame rate stability, Crash rate, ANR, memory usage thresholds

ii. Quality : Texture & model quality (metrics to be clearly defined) that are appropriate for device, Keyboard/Mouse& Controller support

iii. Maintain latest Android platform SDK standards (e.g 16kb, Vulkan)

iv. New titles need to be available on the following form factors: Mobile & Large Screen (Tablet, Android PC, Play Games on PC), XR (with titles running in a 2D window on the XR device), TV, and Auto, no later than their availability on other comparable non-Android platforms or such titles will not be eligible for the program benefits until 6mo after they fulfill all other program requirements across all form factors.

b. Developers must offer a consistent gamer experience by meeting experiential standards across games, including:

ii. For games supporting saved game state, cloud saving of game progress (using any cloud provider)

iii. For games supporting achievement and/or stats of any sort, integration with PGS achievements & Game stats API (powers leagues, quests, and other social challenges), provided Google makes PGS services available for use by apps distributed through third-party stores

iv. Support Play’s Gamer Platform by providing rewards from classes of items that are already readily available in the title (e.g purchasable cosmetic items) to promote the developer’s game.

v. Integration with Play Games Sidekick, including allowing Google to use in-game data (subject to appropriate user notice and controls) to improve Sidekick features such as tips and tricks, to the extent Sidekick is compatible with the title and any anticheat technology

To be in the Apps Experience Program, apps titles must meet the following requirements. These requirements will be updated on a regular cadence with reasonable developer notice.

a. Developers must publish titles on all required form factors with exemplary quality (as defined by the requirements below). Required formfactors will vary based on the app’s category, which will be published as part of the program requirements, where the form factor’s constraints would meaningfully degrade a quality experience on that form factor (e.g., video playback on a watch), and except on particular devices where there is not a viable technical solution to provide quality experience due to system constraints(e.g. memory, performance, storage, input, or operating system version). When an app title in the Apps Experience program is published on one of these additional form factors the service fee rate caps in Section 9 will apply to that app title on that form factor.

i. Stability: Frame rate stability, Crash rate, ANR, memory usage thresholds, jank thresholds

ii. Quality: Utilize Jetpack Compose (or an equivalently capable alternative) to deliver a high quality app experience across all form factors (providing the same capabilities as, for example, Adaptive design, Edge to Edge rendering, Dynamic coloring & Theming, Baseline Profiles)

iii. If supporting another comparable non-Android platform’s design system, must also integrate Android’s equivalent (e.g. Material UX, System Emoji, Physics-based motion)

iv. Maintain latest Android platform standards (e.g 16kb, Predictive Back Nav, App Functions)

v. New titles need to be available on the following form factors: Mobile & Large Screen (Tablet, Android PC), XR (with titles running in a 2D window on the XR device), TV, Wear (with at least companion app support), and Auto, no later than their availability on other comparable non-Android platforms or such titles will not be eligible for the program benefits until 6mo after they fulfill all other program requirements across all form factors

vi. Implement category specific quality requirements as defined by the program(e.g Camera X and Photo Picker integration for social apps, Cast for M&E etc.)

b. Developers must offer a consistent apps experience by meeting experiential standards across apps, including:

ii. Engage SDK integration (for supported categories)

iii. Maintain feature parity between Android and other comparable non-Android platforms within 3 weeks of the feature being available on any comparable platform, except if the feature is not feasible on the Android platform. For the avoidance of doubt, lack of feature parity prior to entry in the program does not prevent eligibility for the program.

iv. Support Play’s Content discovery experiences by providing metadata and assets as required for the content vertical (e.g Comics to Comics hub in Play, Drama Shorts). Specification to be defined per vertical and shall not require developer to bear any substantial costs

As someone who hates Android fragmentation and wants everything to work everywhere, this seems like it could be incentive? But it could also be a way for Google to maintain monopolistic control over Android by paying for it.

Google says it plans to roll these programs out starting in September 2026 in the UK, Europe and Australia, by the end of 2026 in Japan and Korea, and by the end of September 2027 in the rest of the world.

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