Apple Just Admitted the Apple Tax Has a Back Door

A quiet filing on Apple's China site admits that NetEase and miHoYo run web stores around the App Store. The loophole is real, but only big developers can use it.

In October 2026, Apple published a report on its China website. Ju Heng, an associate professor at the School of Business, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Markus von Wartburg, an economist at Analysis Group, co-authored it. The data: between 2020 and 2025, China's App Store ecosystem more than doubled. Transaction volume reached 4 trillion yuan in 2025. Average weekly visitors: 167 million.

Those numbers are large. One passage matters more.

Apple names NetEase and miHoYo. NetEase's web store lets users claim coupons, get cashback, and redeem points for game features. miHoYo's official web payment center lets users log in with their miHoYo account and buy virtual currency and other game content.

This is the first time Apple has admitted in an official report that leading game developers are systematically bypassing its commission system.

The report is only on Apple's China website.

The scale of the workaround

What Apple describes is not an isolated case.

Bain & Company's Gaming Report 2026 found that, as of June 2026, 74% of the top 50 mobile games by 2025 revenue ran dedicated web stores. In 2019, that figure was 12%.

Seven years. From 12% to 74%. Web stores went from a few companies' experiment to a standard feature of top mobile games.

miHoYo's HoYoverse top-up center, Tencent and its partners' Midasbuy, Supercell Store, Century Huatong's Century Games official store, Roblox's Robux web purchases: leading developers have built their own direct sales channels.

These stores use the same playbook. Discounts or extra bonuses pull players away from in-app purchases in the App Store toward official website top-ups. The "coupons, cashback, and point redemption" at NetEase and "direct account login to purchase virtual currency" at miHoYo are standard moves.

A survey by GDC Festival of Gaming and Appcharge in early 2026 found that mobile game payment diversion (DTC) revenue reached about $17 billion, or about 15% of the global mobile game IAP market. 92% of surveyed developers expect their DTC revenue to grow in 2026. 41% expect double-digit growth. 18% expect more than 30% growth. Among developers that adopted DTC earlier, DTC revenue share has reached 35%. Commercial performance has surpassed traditional app store channels.

Appcharge CEO Maor Sason said: "The core issue is whether publishers can directly own the relationship with players. A few years from now, DTC will no longer be an 'alternative' but the basic operating model of the most successful games."

Why Apple said it itself

Apple had reasons to name this weakness in its own report.

In June 2026, 48 small and medium-sized Chinese developers reported Apple to the State Administration for Market Regulation. They accused Apple of abusing its monopoly position in China through restricted transactions, differential treatment, tying, and unfair high prices. They demanded that Apple open third-party app distribution, in-app third-party payments, and external link payment channels.

Four months later, Apple's report came out.

University scholars and a consulting firm economist co-authored it. It is presented as academic research. By citing NetEase and miHoYo, Apple sent regulators a message: even without mandatory external link opening, leading developers have alternative paths.

That message avoids one question. Leading developers have the ability and resources to break out on their own. Small and medium-sized developers can only bear high commissions with no alternative.

Global commission rates

Apple can lower its rates. It has chosen different strategies in different markets.

The EU used the Digital Markets Act to force Apple to open third-party app stores and external link payments. In August 2026, Apple applied new terms in the EU. Third-party app stores or web distribution: 5% core technology commission. Third-party payments inside the App Store: 20%. Purchases through external links: 15%. In April 2025, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million for violating the DMA's anti-steering provisions.

In December 2025, Japan implemented the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software. Apple cut its Japan rate from 30% to 21%. Small and medium-sized developers went from 15% to 10%. Apple opened third-party app stores and external payment channels. For external link payments, the Apple tax fell to as low as 10%.

Brazil completed rate cuts and opening in June 2026. The standard IAP rate fell to 26%, and 15% for small developers. In-app third-party payments and external link payments opened. The unified core technology commission for third-party app stores and web distribution was only 5%.

China's adjustment in March 2026 was limited to IAP rate cuts. Standard developers went from 30% to 25%. Small developers went from 15% to 12%. Apple also promised to "always provide developers distributing apps in China with competitive App Store rates no higher than the overall rate levels in other markets."

Developers point out that Apple's current China commission is up to 20 percentage points higher than in the EU, Japan, and Brazil. Overseas developers can reduce their combined rate to about 5% through third-party distribution or external link payments. Chinese developers remain locked into limited channels at 25% or 12%.

The math for small and medium-sized developers

Ms. Wang, a small developer who reported Apple, said: "This 30% cut, in the end, is still paid by consumers. We developers can't do business at a loss just to make some noise, can we?"

Tian Junwei, one of the complainants, did a more concrete calculation. His legal consultation app charges at least 200 yuan per hour. If consumers use an Android phone and pay via WeChat or Alipay, his payment processing fee is at most 1%. If consumers buy through Apple, the charge has to rise to 248 yuan per hour.

"Consumers pay more on Apple because when I set prices, I had already factored Apple's high commission into my costs."

The pattern repeats. For video platform memberships, the annual fee for iOS users is 30% to 50% higher than for Android users. When recharging 10 yuan on Douyin, Android users get 10 Douyin coins. Apple users get 7.

Zhai Wei, executive director of the Competition Law Research Center at East China University of Political Science and Law, analyzed Apple's approach. Apple allows third-party payments and external link payments in Brazil, Japan, and the EU. It has not fully opened them in China. "This differential treatment may very likely constitute monopolistic conduct involving abuse of market dominance."

What DTC is becoming

Leading developers are building DTC for more than saving fees. The strategic value is deepening.

The Appcharge and GDC survey shows developers' main goals for investing in DTC. "Increasing revenue" ranks first at 63%. "Building direct relationships with players" follows at 53%. "Reducing dependence on app stores" accounts for 40%.

Under the app store system, players' purchases happen inside the platform. There are limits to the user information and consumption data developers can obtain. When the transaction relationship shifts to proprietary channels, developers can build a more direct data system around players' consumption behavior. That system supports user segmentation, precision marketing, and churn recall. Web stores also give developers more room for commercial design: exclusive bundles, point systems, membership benefits, and promotional mechanisms synchronized with in-game events.

The BCG Global Gaming Survey 2025 found that the primary reason 50% of players do not choose DTC is that it is "not worth the extra effort." The convenience of Apple payments has created user inertia. DTC revenue share is still limited. The global mobile game DTC market accounts for about 15% of the in-app purchase market.

Who is entitled to bypass

Apple's report uses NetEase and miHoYo as examples. The scale and product appeal of these two companies give them special bargaining power.

NetEase and miHoYo can build web top-up systems that bypass the App Store because their products are strong enough. Players will go out of their way to top up on the official website instead of taking the easy route of in-app purchases inside the game.

For small and medium-sized developers, that premise does not hold. They do not have enough brand appeal to guide players away from the App Store. They do not have the resources to build and maintain an independent web store system.

74% of top mobile games already operate web stores. DTC revenue has reached $17 billion. Bargaining power is shifting from platforms to content providers. The "naming" in Apple's report confirms this trend.

Leading developers can break out on their own. Small and medium-sized developers cannot. Apple's report does not address whether they should have the same right to choose.