Report: Tencent May Share Mini Games Revenue With Apple

Tencent Holdings reportedly said it is in discussions with Apple about sharing revenue from its WeChat mini games.

The remarks, made Wednesday (Aug. 14) during the company’s earnings call, confirm an earlier media report that Tencent has been pressured by Apple to change its apps to close a loophole that allows developers to collect payments from users without paying a commission to Apple, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Tencent is exploring adding in-app transactions via Apple’s iOS payment system that would allow Apple to begin taking a cut of those transactions, Tencent Chief Strategy Officer James Mitchell said during the call, according to the report.

Currently, Tencent does not monetize the games through in-app purchases on iOS, so adding that option would benefit developers, users, Apple and Tencent, Mitchell said, per the report.

“We want to make it available on terms that we think are economically sustainable, that are also fair,” Mitchell said, according to the report. “And so that’s a discussion that’s underway, and we hope that the discussion leads to a positive outcome.”

During the second quarter, Tencent’s gross receipts from mini games — which are accessed through the WeChat app — rose more than 30%, the report said.

Apple has been pressuring both Tencent and ByteDance, the maker of the Douyin app, to stop allowing in-app creators to steer users to payment systems outside the Apple platform.

The iPhone maker has threatened to reject updates to WeChat and Douyin unless the companies close those loopholes.

An Apple spokesperson said earlier this month that the company’s guidelines specify that the sale of all digital goods must go through its system and that it may reject app submissions that violate that policy.

The iPhone maker polices its app ecosystem to preserve quality and security. At the same time, it is facing regulatory scrutiny around the world.

Music streaming service Spotify said Wednesday it gained Apple’s approval to show European Union users pricing information in its iOS app after a European Commission antitrust ruling against the tech giant.

Entertainment subscription platform Patreon said Monday (Aug. 12) that, beginning in April, Apple will require it to use Apple’s in-app purchasing system and remove all other billing systems from the Patreon iOS app.