Apple is in talks with Tencent about revenue sharing from mini-games in WeChat
The Director of Strategy at Tencent, James Mitchell, informed investors that Apple wants a share of the revenue from mini-games within the WeChat app. The companies are already discussing the terms.
As Mitchell explained, Tencent currently does not pay Apple a commission for user spending on mini-games. The issue is that the version of WeChat available in the App Store does not include in-app purchases for mini-games. If a player wants to buy something, they must switch to another platform.
According to Bloomberg sources, Apple is not pleased with this situation. Allegedly, back in May, the corporation attempted to pressure Tencent by threatening to reject critical updates for WeChat if the Chinese giant did not stop circumventing its commission and redirecting mini-game users to make purchases outside of iOS. Bloomberg reports that Apple made a similar demand to ByteDance regarding mini-games in Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Mitchell stated that Tencent is open to adding in-app purchase options for mini-games on iOS, but "on economically viable and fair terms." If negotiations with Apple regarding the terms do not progress, everything will remain the same.
