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apple he announced will allow third-party app stores in Japan and will allow developers to process payments for digital products and services outside of its iOS in-app purchases. The iPhone maker isn’t making this change because it wants to be open; is being forced — in this case, to comply with the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA), which will now go into effect.
I am this updateApple’s App Store revenue is affected by another major market due to anti-competitive laws. The company already has to comply with the European Digital Markets Act (DMA), which previously required the tech giant to comply. allowing other app stores and other changes.
In the US, Apple has been planning to change its payment system through the courtsafter a lawsuit from the developer of Fortnite, Epic Games. Although it was not said to be exclusive, the court decided that Apple should give developers the right to process payments outside of its system if they wanted to. (The details surrounding the plan are still being discussed after the appeal slightly changed the original decision.)
As usual, when announcing the change in Japan, Apple warned that alternative markets and payments open up “new avenues for malware, fraud, fraud, privacy and security threats.” To reduce these risks, the company said it worked with Japanese regulators to require a system of licensing software markets (“Notarization”), which it says is designed to protect children in particular from inappropriate and fraudulent content.
The fact that Apple has come up with a way to reduce the risk of third-party software stores shows that there has been a technological solution available to meet the needs of openness and security.
As in the EU, Apple has come up with a complex payment system to ensure that it does not lose as much revenue as the App Store, while it appears to be following the letter of the law.
The CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney, of course, has not spoken about the matter, saying that Fortnite will not return to iOS in Japan because Apple is charging a 21% fee for third-party in-app purchases.
In a post on X, he wrote“Apple had to open iOS in competing stores today, and instead of doing this honestly, they have created another problem of obstruction and violation of the law without respect for the government and the people of Japan. Apple made the wrong choice.
He also pointed out the differences between Apple and other game vendors, such as Microsoft, by asking, “Can you imagine the uproar among players and administrators that would occur if Microsoft required all games from Steam and the Epic Games Store to call the game management API and report everything that happened to Microsoft?”
“That’s what Apple just announced in Japan,” he added.
Apple noted that developers must agree to the most recent changes to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, which includes new Japanese optionsby March 17, 2026.
