Google cuts Stadia developer fee to 15 percent

Developers who release and sell their game on Stadia will only have to pay 15 percent of their revenue to Google from October 1. This applies to sales up to USD 3 million and in any case up to and including 2023.

During a Stadia keynote, Google announced the new remittance scheme. Google wants to make it more attractive for developers to release their games on Stadia and is therefore reducing the revenue contribution to 15 percent. This applies to the payment of the first 3 million euros that a game earns. Anything above $3 million will be settled according to the current distribution. This is a temporary arrangement that will remain in effect at least until the end of 2023.

In addition, Google will share the proceeds of Stadia Pro subscriptions with developers. With Stadia Pro, subscribers get a select number of games each month that they can play unlimited through the streaming service. Based on the number of sessions per player a game has, the revenue is shared with the developer of the game. The plan is for 70 percent of the revenue from these subscriptions to go to developers.

Earlier, Google also announced a reduction for developers with apps and games in the Google PlayStore. As of July this year, small developers only have to pay 15 percent of their income to Google.

At the beginning of this year, Google closed its own game studios. The tech giant then announced that it would no longer develop games for Stadia. It is now mainly intended as a platform where other developers and publishers can release games.