The 30% cut hurts every developer, not just the minority building bad games that make the world worse.

Smartphone game stores aren't the only option for game developers. They could go with Nintendo eShop (30% platform fee), or Sony PSN store (30% platform fee), or Xbox store (30% platform fee). Hmm, maybe there's a trend here?

More seriously, Android does allow sideloading and alternative game stores. There are also subscription services like Xbox game pass, Amazon Luna, and Apple Arcade, though I don't know their exact payment models. And PC gaming still exists - there are popular game stores like Steam that take a smaller cut.

I think it's hard to make money on games on any platform, but Steam does seem to have a vibrant indie game scene.

	▲	johnecheck 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		A trend indeed. You know what each of those stores charging 30% have in common? They each come bundled with the OS on your device and have massive advantages over any competing stores (if they even allowed them to exist). Since devices are so expensive and users tend to be loyal, [company] isn't going to see much increase in sales by lowering their fees. With no competition and no downward pressure on prices, they just pick the 'industry standard', effectively price fixing without true collusion. I'm pretty sure this isn't ideal but I don't pretend to know the answers. Until then, I'll just be focusing on building my ideas as web apps. (Flutter apps, so I can release elsewhere if the terms are reasonable).