In accordance with the Play Shop Management Centre help policy issued by Google, Google Play will begin to share the cost of refunds with the Android developers later in 2026. When a player disputes the Play shop purchase transaction directly through a bank, the developer is required to pay the purchase price (less Play ‘ s service fee) and the refund fees charged by the financial institution.
These costs were previously borne by Google, and the situation will change later in 2026. Google continues to challenge unreasonable refunds on behalf of developers, when the outcome of such objections will increasingly depend on the evidence submitted by developers.
In addition to cost adjustments, Google will launch the “API Audit Refund” in July 2026. As an optional function, the API determines whether Google can effectively represent the user ‘ s mechanism for dealing with refund disputes. The developers can share transaction data with Play through the API, such as payment status, commodity consumption and order status. Through the above information, Google can more forcefully refute unreasonable disputes. Without the API, Google had to rely on payment records to deal with disputes.
This pattern of “friendly fraud” is the very meaning of data when players dispute payment after buying gift packs and using props. At the same time, this is the most difficult model to prove in the absence of a game-end signal. Payments records show transactions, while player behaviour data show follow-up. Connecting data sources to Google API is now a payment operation for the issuer.
The effective operation of this service requires more than technological integration. It means that someone is responsible for the whole process, monitors the rate of disputes, tracks the results, knows what evidence can win the proceedings and strictly adheres to response deadlines. For distributors who previously did not need this function, a specialist commissioner may be required.
The quality of the evidence is key to determining the success of the case. According to Appcharge, in the absence of a dedicated dispute-management unit for the issuer, the success rate is usually between 20 and 30 per cent. However, if structured evidence and consistent processes are used, the success rate can exceed 80 per cent.
Other changes were announced in March this year in the payment set-up of the Play store before the application of the refund rules to Google Play. Prior to that, years of legal struggle between Google and Epic had culminated in a settlement, which had reduced the distribution of Play shops from 30 per cent to 20 per cent and allowed developers to provide their own payment systems.
