What Is the Real Value of Direct-to-Consumer Game Sales Beyond Saving on Platform Fees?
The 25-30% fee savings headline is real, but it is not why direct-to-consumer sales matter most for game studios.
Direct-to-consumer (D2C) game sales let studios sell items, DLC, subscriptions, and full games through their own webstore instead of routing every purchase through Steam, Apple, or Google.
The most-cited benefit is cost: studios keep the fee difference (sometimes marketed as up to 25%) that would otherwise go to platform fees. A broader shift in app store regulations across several countries has made D2C more accessible and scalable by opening space for studios to link out to external payment pages, instead of relying entirely on Apple or Google.
D2C is more valuable than a fee-savings line item because its bigger return comes from owning the player relationship directly instead of through a platform intermediary. This direct connection gives studios clear visibility into player cohorts, enabling them to tailor experiences and deliver value precisely where it matters in the player journey. Liam Wiltshire, VP and GM at Tebex, made this case at the Develop:Brighton conference, arguing that studios treating D2C purely as a cost discussion miss most of the opportunity. The savings are real, but they are a byproduct.
The larger prize is a direct channel to players that a studio can use to build loyalty, tailor payment experiences by region, and turn casual buyers into repeat supporters.
What D2C actually changes for a studio
Selling through Steam, Apple, or Google means every player interaction runs through that platform's rules, fees, and data restrictions. D2C removes that intermediary. A studio gets its own checkout, its own player data, and its own ability to shape the purchase experience.
Wiltshire described this as removing "the great firewall" between a studio and its players. That direct line enables the rest of the value: targeted loyalty offers, local payment methods, and recovery messaging that a platform storefront will not allow.
Why the fee-savings framing undersells it
Regulatory pressure, not cost-cutting ambition, opened the door to D2C at scale. Court rulings and policy changes in multiple countries have chipped at exclusive app store billing requirements, while platforms simultaneously pull back on how much payment risk they absorb for developers. Google Play's 2026 policy change holding developers responsible for disputed purchase amounts is one example.
A studio treating D2C only as margin booster would see an increase in their net while leaving the bigger part of the pie on the table. A studio treating D2C as a relationship channel uses the monetization infrastructure to best meet player wants, growing lifetime value and moving average spend and repeat purchase rates far more than fee savings alone.
The complexity nobody puts on the savings slide
D2C is not a switch a studio flips.
Selling directly means owning sales tax across every jurisdiction a player lives in, fraud screening, chargeback liability, and a payment stack that supports dozens of local methods, not just cards and PayPal.
Examples of local payment method popularity among payers can be found in Switzerland, where roughly 40% of payments run through Twint rather than cards. Brazil previously shifted from cash-based Boleto vouchers, that accounted for up to 90% of online purchases, to the instant-payment method Pix in under three years. A studio without that method coverage cannot collect payment from a meaningful share of willing buyers, regardless of how strong the game is.
How Tebex fits the player-first approach
A player-first approach focuses on creating an unmediated connection with players, allowing studios to deliver tailored value that drives long-term LTV rather than relying on short-term discounts. Tebex supports this model by operating as a game studio's Merchant of Record - embedding safe, localized checkout experiences directly into the player journey, while handling tax compliance, fraud screening, and chargeback liability so studios don't have to carry that burden alone.
We support our partner studios across five key levers:
- Cutting payment friction
- Offering local payment methods
- Building buyer confidence
- Prioritizing loyalty over one-off transactions
- Designing the purchase flow around intentional spend.
Our data shows the direct impact of these levers: local payment methods drove 8.5% of Hytale's launch-week purchases, and our follow-up messaging recovered roughly 30-35% of abandoned checkouts.
Global market data supports this shift. Newzoo's Global Games Market Report found worldwide payer growth of 4.9 percent outpaced revenue growth of 3.4 percent in 2025, while player growth slowed to 2.3 percent in Europe and 2.4 percent in North America. New payers are harder to find in mature markets, which puts more weight on getting value from the players a studio already has.
Practical takeaways
Evaluating D2C through the lens of fee savings alone captures only part of the picture. The true long-term value comes from cultivating direct, 1-to-1 player relationships, deeply understanding player cohorts, and driving long-term loyalty through tailored, localized experiences. Historically, traditional platforms held sole ownership over player data and customer relationships. Today, that paradigm is shifting, allowing studios to connect with their audience directly.
For teams without in-house tax, fraud, and payment-routing expertise, managing this transition requires balancing the operational load. As compliance burdens scale with every new market and payment method added, working with a Merchant of Record partner like Tebex allows studios to capture this direct value without shouldering the underlying risk alone.
FAQs
Q: Does Tebex handle tax and compliance for D2C game sales?
A: Yes. Tebex operates as the merchant of record for the studios and creators it works with, which means it takes on sales tax calculation, remittance, and regulatory compliance across the countries where a studio sells. This removes the need for a studio to register for tax collection in every jurisdiction where it has paying players.
Q: How many local payment methods does Tebex support?
A: Tebex supports more than 130 local and global payment methods, including options like Pix in Brazil, Twint in Switzerland, and Bancontact in Belgium, in addition to standard cards and PayPal. Broader method coverage matters because players without a supported payment option cannot complete a purchase, regardless of intent.
Q: What happens to chargebacks under Tebex's merchant-of-record model?
A: Tebex absorbs chargeback costs on behalf of the studios it works with, including the dispute fee, administrative costs, and the refund if a dispute is lost. This differs from most providers, where the studio can be charged both a chargeback fee and the original transaction amount if a dispute defense fails.
Q: Is D2C only worth pursuing for the fee savings?
A: No. Tebex's GM Liam Wiltshire has argued publicly that framing D2C purely as a cost-savings decision misses most of its value. The larger return comes from owning the player relationship directly, which supports loyalty programs, localized payment experiences, and long-term repeat spend.
Q: How does Tebex help studios recover abandoned checkouts?
A: Tebex builds abandoned-basket recovery messaging into its D2C toolkit, reaching out to players who started but did not complete a purchase.
Q: What is the "player-first D2C" approach?
A: Player-first D2C means the game developer has a direct line to the player, providing a better understanding of how to increase LTV with offerings that maximize the value for the player. It prioritizes. It prioritizes payment confidence, local payment access, and loyalty mechanics like gift cards and personalized offers over blanket price cuts, based on the view that repeated smaller purchases build more long-term value than a single large one.
