Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act Has Arrived. Here’s Your Six-Month Action Plan.

Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) came into force on 18 December 2025. For publishers selling digital content in Japan, this opens up new pathways to double down on alternative billing and out-of-app monetization models beyond traditional app stores.

The next six months are critical. New payment models will be tested, player habits will form, and standards for trust and execution will be set. Publishers that move now will define the new digital commerce landscape. Others will follow.

Here’s our take on what you need to know.

5 things to know about MSCA

1. Alternative app-stores are allowed, conditions apply

The MSCA opens up app distribution in Japan by allowing developers to use alternative app stores alongside Apple’s App Store and Google Play. These marketplaces must meet platform requirements, including authorisation, security checks, and ongoing compliance.

Apple will authorize approved alternative app marketplaces on iOS in Japan. Apps will undergo an App Review process through notarisation, focused on accuracy, functionality, safety, security and privacy, and must meet age-rating and child-safety requirements for younger users.

On Android, Google already permits third-party app stores, subject to a similar review process, and continues to support this open distribution model.

For publishers, the MSCA is not about immediately changing where apps are discovered. Instead, it unblocks routes to monetize outside the app. The App Store and Google Play remain the front door, while expanded billing options make web-based purchases and alternative payment flows more viable at scale. The opportunity shifts to execution: payments performance, compliance, and converting players beyond the app.

2. Expanded in-app billing options

The MSCA reduces uncertainty around using payment models beyond standard in-app billing. This means greater latitude to test pricing, bundles, and offers outside a single billing system. It creates space to optimize unit economics and retain more value per transaction, which can then be reinvested into more competitive pricing, richer bundles, player rewards, or live ops.

On the App Store in Japan, developers can now offer alternative in-app payment, but Apple In-App Purchase must be shown alongside these options. Required disclosures and child-safety safeguards also apply. 

Google has extended its user choice billing program to include all apps on Google Play in Japan, including gaming. This means that gaming developers can now offer alternative payment systems alongside Google Play’s billing system for in-app purchases of digital content.

For publishers, this enables greater flexibility in how digital goods are priced, packaged, and sold. Teams can experiment with different offers, bundles, and purchase flows, and better align monetization with specific player segments or in-game moments.

3. Link-outs permitted, anti-steering rules relaxed

Publishers can now link out in Japan. MSCA explicitly allows the redirection of users from the app to a website where purchases take place. 

On iOS, Apple now allows link-outs to web purchasing as long as Apple In-App Purchase is also shown and required disclosures and child-safety safeguards are applied. On Android, link-outs to web-based purchases are also permitted, but must be displayed alongside Google Play Billing.

In both cases, web purchases must be presented as an additional option, not as a replacement. Platform billing must remain visible and available, and users must be able to choose how they want to pay without pressure or manipulation.

For publishers, this means players in Japan can tap a button within a mobile game and complete their purchase outside the app environment, such as a Custom Commerce web store, Digital Garage’s AppPay and Codashop. Coda Links makes this easy for publishers, giving them full control over the experience by allowing them to decide when and how players are sent to an out-of-app checkout.

4. Lower fee structures

Before the MSCA, most digital purchases in Japan were routed through platform billing, with fixed fees of up to 30%. After the MSCA, Apple and Google still charge fees, but these now more closely reflect how much of the transaction each platform actually handles.

On iOS, Apple applies its highest fees when it processes the payment itself, lower fees when purchases happen on the web, and a minimal fee when apps are distributed outside the App Store. On Android, Google continues to offer Play Billing, but applies reduced service fees when developers use their own billing systems and no Play Billing fee when purchases are completed on the web.

The result is not fee-free commerce, but clearer and often lower-cost paths to out-of-app monetization. Publishers that move purchases outside platform billing can improve margins while taking on greater responsibility for payments, compliance, fraud, and customer support.

On iOS, using alternative payments or web checkouts removes Apple’s payment processing fee and lowers the overall take. On Android, Google applies a clear discount of four percentage points when developers use their own billing systems, and web purchases avoid the full Play Billing fee altogether. The result is not fee-free distribution, but lower, more flexible economics for publishers willing to manage payments, compliance, and customer support with partners like Coda.

Here’s a snapshot of Apple’s and Google’s fee structures under the MSCA:

5. The trust bar in Japan is high, and it decides adoption

Trust decides whether your out-of-app monetization efforts will succeed. MSCA allows platforms to apply safeguards to protect user information and system security, and publishers should expect clear technical and compliance requirements when using link-out or out-of-app payment paths. These guardrails exist to protect players and set a baseline for trust.

Link-outs and web checkout flows only work when the experience feels familiar and reliable. Pricing must be clear, confirmation immediate, and support effective when something goes wrong. Japanese players are quick to abandon flows that feel uncertain. They are equally quick to repeat purchases once trust is established. Execution quality is crucial. A reliable first experience sets the baseline for everything that follows.

Coda’s 6 Month Action Plan for Publishers

Many publishers do not yet have Japan-ready out-of-app payment flows. This needs to change, and here’s a practical guide on where to start:

Months 0 to 1: Define a focused use case

Start with one clear objective. This could be as simple as a web-only bundle or a limited live ops offer. Be explicit about success metrics. Examples include penetration of web purchases, average order value, or payment success rates.

Months 1 to 2: Select the right monetization model

Most publishers will start with one of three approaches:

1. A full D2C web store, launched through Coda Custom Commerce, for greater control over catalogues, bundles, and promotions.
2. Selling on a trusted local web-based marketplace like Digital Garage’s AppPay.
3. A link-out checkout model for speed to market, often using Coda Links to connect in-app discovery to web payment.

The right choice depends on internal capability and operating priorities. Coda’s Merchant of Record model simplifies the adoption of alternative monetization models for non-Japanese publishers by managing local payments, tax, compliance, fraud, and customer support.

Months 2 to 3: Localise execution for Japan

This is where outcomes are decided. Payment method mix must reflect local preferences. Mobile web checkout must be simple and transparent. Pricing, confirmation, and receipts must be clear. Refunds and customer support flows must work cleanly.

Months 3 to 4: Make the value clear to players

Players change their behaviour when the value is obvious. Web-only bundles, bonus currency, loyalty rewards, or time-bound offers tied to live ops are all effective when they are simple and consistent.

Months 4 to 5: Launch quietly and iterate

Treat the initial rollout as a controlled test. Track conversion, payment failures, refunds, and support volume. Iterate frequently. In Japan, small improvements have an outsized impact on trust and repeat behaviour.

Month 6: Scale proven flows

By month six, publishers should know which offers convert, which segments respond, and which models are ready to scale. At this point, out-of-app monetization becomes a repeatable operating model rather than an experiment.

MSCA expands what publishers can build. It does not change the fundamentals of what players expect. Publishers that use the next six months to design clear, reliable, and well-localised purchase journeys will be well-positioned as new habits form. Those who wait will still have options, but they will be working within patterns set by others.

The opportunity is there. Execution is what will differentiate outcomes. Let’s talk about how you can lead that shift.