Microsoft has told The Verge a new policy change that allows Microsoft Store developers to keep 100 percent of revenue from payments made via their own or third-party systems won’t apply to video games.
Yesterday we noted that Microsoft would be allowing developers to use their own or third-party commerce platforms within the redesigned Microsoft Store without paying Microsoft any fees — essentially letting them keep every single drop of revenue if they choose to go that route.
While it’s still a notable policy change, the Xbox maker has confirmed that game developers won’t be able to take advantage of it when it comes into effect on July 28, although the company didn’t offer an explanation as to why.
It’s an interesting stance given Microsoft recently outlined plans to offer Microsoft Store game developers an 88 percent revenue share from August 1, 2020, marking a fairly sizeable increase on the 70 percent split it currently offers.
At the time, Xbox Games Studios head Matt Booty said the upswing was designed to encourage developers to “bring more games to more players, and find commercial success from doing so.”
That policy, however, wasn’t extended to game developers on Xbox consoles, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella suggesting that higher platform fees make sense on consoles because the hardware itself is being subsidized by Microsoft.