Pokémon Go opens Web Store to avoid Apple and Google fees

Niantic follows Epic Games to cut platform providers out from profits
Pokémon Go opens Web Store to avoid Apple and Google fees
Pokémon Go opens Web Store to avoid Apple and Google fees /

Niantic has announced the opening of a Pokémon Go Web Store, which enables players to buy PokéCoins from outside the app. This allows the company to sell in-game currency without the need to share the profits with Apple and Google, which otherwise take cuts from any purchases made in-app.

Apple and Google reacted very aggressively when Epic Games did this with Fortnite, resulting in a legal battle between the corporations and the deletion of Fortnite from iOS devices as Apple argued that Epic Games was going against the terms of service for the App Store by advertising the external store in the app.

Niantic is keeping mentions of the Web Store out of the game to be on the safe side, which is what Apple recommends developers to do.

“The Web Store offers the best deals, the biggest bundles, and exclusive offers. Plus, you can get up to 1,000 bonus PokéCoins with every purchase! You can use PokéCoins to purchase bundles and other items from the in-game shop. This offer is only available at the Pokémon GO Web Store,” Niantic stated in a marketing email sent out about the announcement.

The Pokémon Go Web Store is only available in a few regions at the moment and is expected to be expanded over the coming months. It offers bundles with 1,200 PokéCoins and upwards, which are also available via the in-app store, adding some extra coins on top to motivate people to buy through the Web Store.

A closer comparison between all the available bundles shows, however, that the in-app store’s 100 PokéCoin bundle for $0.99 is still the best deal for players with 1.01 coins per Cent. The big $159.99 deal from the Web Store for 15,500 PokéCoins comes close with 0.96 coins per Cent, but can’t beat the small bundle’s value. For now, at least, the in-app store is still your best source of PokéCoins.

The Web Store launch comes after controversial changes to Remote Raids in the game, which led to an open feud with the community.


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Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg