How Mobile Games Are Escaping the App Store's 30% Tax

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 29, 2025 – In a move that signals a seismic shift in the mobile gaming landscape, operator Yodo1 has successfully diverted the majority of player spending for its popular title Transformers: Earth Wars away from traditional app stores. In just eight months, the share of revenue coming from the game's direct-to-consumer (DTC) webshop skyrocketed from 25% to 57%, a landmark achievement powered by a partnership with payments platform Neon.

This 2.2-fold increase in webshop revenue share demonstrates a powerful new reality for game studios: the long-standing 15-30% commission levied by Apple and Google is no longer an unavoidable cost of business. By building a compelling alternative purchasing destination, Yodo1 has not only improved its profit margins but has fundamentally altered player behavior, turning what was once a niche option into the preferred purchasing method for its engaged community. The success provides a potent blueprint for an industry-wide rebellion against platform fees.

The 'Epic' Effect: A New Monetization Playbook

The strategic pivot by Yodo1 and many others was made possible by a landmark legal decision earlier this year. The Epic v. Apple ruling on April 30, 2025, was the catalyst that blew the doors open for direct payments on iOS in the United States. The court mandated that Apple must allow developers to include links within their apps that direct users to external purchasing websites, and crucially, that Apple cannot charge a commission on those external transactions.

This ruling dismantled a core pillar of Apple's App Store business model. Previously, developers were trapped in a walled garden, forced to use Apple's payment system and surrender a significant cut of their revenue. The court's decision effectively ended that monopoly, validating the argument that developers should have the freedom to engage with and sell to their customers directly. For the $171 billion mobile app market, the ruling represented a monumental shift in economic power.

Capitalizing on this new freedom, Yodo1 began embedding consistent in-game prompts that guided Transformers: Earth Wars players to its webshop. These weren't just simple buttons; they were integrated into the game's fabric, heralding exclusive offers and better value. This strategy, combined with the predictable timing of new deals, created a habit loop for players, training them to check the webshop as part of their regular gameplay ritual. The success of this initiative serves as a high-profile case study on how to effectively leverage the post-ruling environment, moving beyond mere compliance to active, strategic monetization.

Beyond the App Store: Building a Direct-to-Consumer Engine

Simply providing a link to a webshop is not enough to change entrenched consumer habits. Yodo1's success with Transformers: Earth Wars was built on a multi-faceted strategy designed to make its DTC channel an indispensable extension of the game itself.

First, the company tightly integrated the webshop with its LiveOps strategy. The webshop wasn't a static storefront but a dynamic part of the game's ongoing content calendar. Every Friday, ahead of major in-game weekend events, the shop was refreshed with themed bundles and special offers that complemented the upcoming activities. This transformed the webshop from a simple store into a strategic resource for players looking to get an edge, making a pre-event visit a weekly ritual.

Second, to convert players who had never spent money outside the app, Yodo1 launched an aggressive and highly effective first-time purchase promotion. Players were offered a free in-game gift, advertised via pop-ups within the app for U.S. iOS users and through community channels like Discord elsewhere. After claiming the free item, players were prompted to enter their email to receive a 50% discount code on their first webshop purchase. This simple, low-friction funnel proved immensely successful, driving a 1.8x increase in daily average first-time webshop purchases. To date, this single promotion is responsible for an astounding 80% of all first-time buyers on the platform.

Finally, Yodo1 used the data it gathered to re-engage players directly. The team contacted high-value players who were still predominantly making in-app purchases to educate them on the superior deals available on the webshop. They also reached out to lapsed webshop spenders with targeted discount codes to encourage their return. This personalized outreach helped recover at-risk spenders and reinforced the value proposition of the direct channel, demonstrating the power of owning the customer relationship.

The Shifting Economics of Mobile Gaming

The move toward DTC is fundamentally about reclaiming revenue. While Apple and Google's platform fees can consume up to 30% of a transaction's value, payment processing fees on a proprietary webshop typically range from just 2-5%. For a successful game like Transformers: Earth Wars, that difference represents millions of dollars in recovered profit—money that can be reinvested into user acquisition, game development, and more robust LiveOps.

This new economic reality has given rise to specialized platforms like Neon, which function as a "Merchant of Record" (MoR). These platforms handle the immense complexity that comes with global DTC sales, including tax compliance, fraud prevention, currency conversion, and dispute management across dozens of markets. By abstracting away this operational burden, companies like Neon and its competitor Xsolla are enabling developers of all sizes to launch their own webshops and compete on a more level playing field.

This trend is creating what some analysts call a "two-tier economy" in mobile gaming. Casual players may continue to use the convenient but more expensive in-app purchase options. However, more engaged and price-sensitive players—often the highest spenders—are migrating to webshops where they can find better deals, exclusive bundles, and a wider variety of payment methods. As more developers follow Yodo1's lead, the long-term financial impact on app store revenue could be substantial.

This migration of high-value players poses a direct challenge to the financial models of platform holders. Internal documents from similar legal battles have revealed that platform holders fear losing billions in annual profit if developers successfully bypass their stores. The success of Transformers: Earth Wars is no longer a theoretical threat; it is a tangible demonstration of that revenue shifting in real time. For developers, the message is clear: the path to greater profitability and independence no longer runs exclusively through the App Store, but directly to the player.