On April 30th, 2025, a U.S. court ruled that Apple’s anti-steering policies are anti-competitive and unenforceable.

That single sentence could redefine the mobile app economy.

For the first time ever, developers can now directly link to their own web stores from inside their iOS apps, promoting them, pricing them competitively, and funneling players off-platform without fear of being banned.

We unpacked everything on a special emergency episode with Chip Thurston, Head of Gaming at FastSpring (and former Scopely product leader)

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

How the Epic v. Apple court ruling changes the rules immediately

What Apple is now legally required to allow inside your app

Why this ruling could unlock 50%+ of iOS revenue via web

What tools, compliance, and merchant of record solutions do you need to get started

Lessons from studios already monetizing 40–50% via web

Why Apple’s retaliation is likely — and how to prepare

📈 Whether you're a midcore dev, casual publisher, or indie studio, this is your moment to take back control of your margin, your funnel, and your future.

According to Chip:

- Before the ruling, best-in-class midcore games saw 40–50% of revenue via web after years of investment

- Casual games managed 20–25% at best

- Now, with direct promotion allowed, any game could hit 50% web revenue with proper messaging and value placement

Let that sink in.

Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

---------------------------------------

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Special Guest: Chip Thurston

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thurstonchip/

FastSpring: https://fastspring.gg/

Our Yacht party: https://go.fastspring.com/D2Sea_Laser_Yacht_Party_dm_rg.html

Youtube: https://youtu.be/6jk-mDnia3Y

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest

04:22 Apple's Court Ruling and Its Significance

08:44 Impact of Anti-Steering Policies

12:27 Apple's Response and Future Implications

16:22 Choosing a Merchant of Record

19:18 Risk Management and Market Expectations

21:03 Revenue Shifts in Gaming

23:31 Promoting Web Stores Effectively

26:20 Choosing the Right Merchant of Record

28:32 FastSpring's Unique Value Proposition

31:08 Navigating Apple's Response

33:40 Future of Web Stores in Gaming

38:12 Beneficiaries of Increased Profitability

40:02 Looking Ahead: Regulatory Changes

---------------------------------------

Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

---------------------------------------

Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

Please share feedback and comments - [email protected]

---------------------------------------

If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai