Apple Announces Reduced Cut For Small App Store Developers

Apple has announced that developers that don’t pull big numbers in revenue will get to keep a larger cut of their profits.

This comes as part of the App Store Small Business Program, and takes effect 1st January 2021. As per the program, developers who make less than USD 1 Million profit across all their games will see Apple take a smaller commission, at 15% down from Apple’s usual 30%.

Interestingly, Apple has made this a very hard system to game. Should your profits break 1 Million, Apple will resume its standard rate for the rest of the year. However, if your apps start pulling less money and you find yourself suddenly under 1 million, you’ll have to reapply for the reduced rate at the start of the next year.

According to The Verge, a solid 98% of developers on the app store are eligible for this reduced commission, although they only bring in less than 5% of the platforms profits. A notable loser in this case would be Epic, who wouldn’t be eligible for the rates even if they were still on the platform.

This also comes as a good PR move for Apple, who faces some criticism over “unfair” commission rates. Rather than just reducing the rates wholesale, branding it as a tool to help small creators is a much bigger PR win.