Apple responds to $570 million in EU fines with new tiered comission and tax for App developers which Epic boss Tim Sweeney says are ‘blatantly unlawful in both Europe and the United States’

2025-06-29 23:58:00
www.pcgamer.com

Apple has unveiled its newest attempt to make more money from App sales while skirting EU law with tiered developer options. Spotted by The Verge, this new strategy was announced on Thursday, and changes the Store Services fee to this new system that will limit the features available to developers for their app depending on how much money they have decided to give Apple.

At the lowest tier developers will pay a five percent commission on all in-app purchases. This fee will give them access to basic app features including reviews, privacy information, and some access to Apple Support. That’s a pretty bare-bones option, so if developers want access to anything else inducing automatic updates and downloads, they’ll have to go for a higher tier on the Store Services chart.

Tier 2 is currently the only other option, which costs more than double tier one at 13 percent commission. This is likely the option most developers will need, and will be selected by default. For anyone that can manage with the more basic package, they can downgrade to the lower option. Here’s hoping the EU fights these to bring about a better solution like it has before.

Alongside these changes, Apple is rolling out a new fee. The Core Technology Commission is being introduced which will allow Apple to take a 5 percent bonus on any outside purchase made within App store apps. Given most of these changes are in response to the $570 million USD penalty Apple recently faced for its “anti-steering” practices responsible for placing restrictions on developers ability to direct consumers to alternate payment methods.

Whether or not these changes will appease the EU is hard to tell. They mostly look like renaming things to skirt rules than actually addressing issues raised. Epic boss Tim Sweeney who’s no stranger to legal dealings with Apple certainly doesn’t think it will do any good, stating that the new plans are “blatantly unlawful in both Europe and the United States”.

Apple’s new Digital Markets Act malicious compliance scheme is blatantly unlawful in both Europe and the United States and makes a mockery of fair competition in digital markets. Apps with competing payments are not only taxed but commercially crippled in the App Store.…June 26, 2025

Now we wait for the EU Commission to review Apple’s proposed changes before making a decision. It could be that the megacorp is set to see more compliance fines on top of the interest on that whopping $570 million worth of fines it’s still yet to pay.

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