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Operating a game on both Google Play and Steam - questions on IAP and data

Question from a developer:

I want to use both Steam and Google sign-in in my title. If I use both, are there any additional fees? I know that Steam takes a commission on all in-game sales, but if players use both Google and Steam accounts, do I have to pay a commission to both?

Also, I'd like to share data between my PC and mobile phone versions of my game - is that possible?

In-Game Economy
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brendan answered

Answering the last question first, yes, that's exactly what PlayFab is designed for. We're a platform-agnostic backend for games, allowing you to have data for your players which is usable on any platform.

Now, for the question of costs: First and foremost, PlayFab does not charge any extra fees for using additional platforms, and we do not take any percentage of your sales. If you ship a game on a platform (like Steam) where you're required to make real-world purchases through their service, it is the case that they'll take a percentage of your sales - that's quite common. So, if you sell things in Steam, Valve takes a percentage. If you sell things in Google Play, Google takes a percentage. If your game is available in both Google Play and Steam, and you have in-game sales, you'll need to review their policies to make sure you're compliant. Because those policies have changed quite a bit over time, and more particularly because we have no control over them, we can't really advise you on how to be compliant with those policies.

From a technical standpoint, if you make a sale to a player in Google Play, it's not possible for Steam to take a cut of that sale. The same is true the other way - sales made in Steam are not something Google could affect. The question really is, what are you allowed to do, in terms of having in-game sales to players, if you have a title which exists in both platforms? Ideally, they would each take a cut of only the sales made in their environment, and any items purchased with virtual currency (which may have been purchased with real world money) would be usable in both platforms. But if that means your players always purchase on one platform due to some advantage of purchasing there, that would certainly be problematic. This is an area that's generating a lot of discussion these days, so I'd strongly advise you to have a look at each platform's policy guides, and if you feel it's unclear, ask them specific questions detailing your scenarios.

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