During the first day of its Build 2018 developer conference, Microsoft mostly honed in on AI and new tools to woo developers. But outside of all of the new tech goodies, the company is also trying something a little more basic: more money.
The tech giant announced today a new revenue-sharing split for Microsoft Store developers. Later this year, all consumer apps, excluding games, will provide 95 percent of the revenue from the app and in-app purchases to the developer. The new fee structure is applicable for purchases on Windows 10 PCs, Windows Mixed Reality, Windows phone, and Surface Hub. Notably, this excludes purchases on Xbox.
Where things get slightly more complicated is that the share varies depending on how people get to your app. The 95 percent figure is earned if a customer uses a deep link to get to and purchase an app. If Microsoft directs a customer yo your app, whether through a collection on the Microsoft Store or via "any other owned Microsoft properties," then developers will receive 85 percent of the revenue instead.
Still, even with 85 percent at the low end, the new fee structure is a win for developers on the Microsoft Store. As for whether it will entice more developers to build apps for the Store is another thing altogether.
The new fee structure, Microsoft says, will be available later in 2018. Developers will be prompted to accept a new version of the App Developer Agreement when it is available.
