Genshin Impact maker tried to dodge App Store fees — twice

The App Store is a powerful digital ecosystem.

Despite being Apple's poster child for iPhone gaming, the developer behind "Genshin Impact" twice tried to get around paying the App Store's 30% fee.

"Genshin Impact" has previously won an Apple Design Award, and it's seen Tim Cook personally show up to its offices to meet the developers. Most recently, "Genshin Impact" was briefly shown on screen during Apple's iPhone 15 launch.

However, according to New York-based The China Project, the game developer miHoYo has twice tried to circumvent the App Store's in-app payment system since August 2023.

The first time, as spotted by 9to5mac, it was via a miHoYo community app. Members get exclusive promotions through this app, and reportedly, customer service staff were trained to direct users to buy directly from the firm's website.

Apple removed this community app on August 22, 2023. It was back four days later, but without this option to pay on the website.

And then on August 30, 2023, there was a new mini-program in Alipay. It offered the same option of paying by the firm's website, or rather it did, until Apple blocked it for iPhone users on September 11.

Neither Apple nor "Genshin Impact" developer miHoYo have commented.

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11 Comments

bloggerblog 2457 comments · 16 Years

About 6 months ago

It seems that every time Apple supports a game or gaming platform then go on to becomes a success, they get greedy and try to bypass Apple!
Epic Games comes to mind

neoncat 151 comments · 5 Years

Good. More and more developers need to do this—even just as performance art. Post a link, get it slapped down, lather rinse repeat. As many as possible, as often as possible, and not just marquee apps and developers. Make the policing become such a huge time sink for Apple that they're forced to come up with more equitable solutions.

Burn the App Store to the ground.

coolfactor 2245 comments · 20 Years

neoncat said:

Good. More and more developers need to do this—even just as performance art. Post a link, get it slapped down, lather rinse repeat. As many as possible, as often as possible, and not just marquee apps and developers. Make the policing become such a huge time sink for Apple that they're forced to come up with more equitable solutions.

Burn the App Store to the ground.

That's a pretty depressing perspective on the topic.

Don't forget what it was like before the "App Store era"... the world polluted with physical packaging for each application you purchased, terrible website experiences, confusing support.

The App Store flipped app distribution on its head, and we know that because Google copied with the Play Store.

Is it time for Apple to re-evaluate the 30% fee? Yes. But they deserve something when they are advertising, distributing and providing some levels of support.

coolfactor said:

Is it time for Apple to re-evaluate the 30% fee? Yes. But they deserve something when they are advertising, distributing and providing some levels of support.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you completely—I think Apple deserves to charge whatever it feels it needs to to cover those costs and support its profit objectives. Those numbers can be as high as it wants them to be—as long as the App Store is subject to competition. I don't care if the share of use by end users is 99% AppStore to 1% AlternativeStore. People who feel more comfortable using an Apple-run AppStore with all its inherent advantages should have every right to do so. As long as it's competing for that business with other App Stores that have an equal footing for developer and end user attention.

Otherwise, gloves off. As long as it's a closed system, I don't particularly care if the efforts developers use to try and break the rules amount to dirty pool. Means to an end.

foregoneconclusion 2690 comments · 12 Years

neoncat said: Don't get me wrong, I agree with you completely—I think Apple deserves to charge whatever it feels it needs to to cover those costs and support its profit objectives. Those numbers can be as high as it wants them to be—as long as the App Store is subject to competition.

The App Store already has competition. Example: Genshin Impact is sold on iOS, Android, PC and Playstation. You can also get it on Mac through GeForce NOW. The reality is that games that generate bigger revenue and become subject to the 30% charge instead of the 15% charge are typically going to be multi-platform. Nobody who is interested in Genshin Impact is limited to App Store pricing. They have other mainstream options to choose from and see if there's big savings somewhere.