Brazil App Store antitrust Apple 2026: what publishers get
What CADE's Apple settlement requires in Brazil, the fee card it produced, who is live on iOS already, and how it stacks with Android, OEM and carrier billing.
Direct answer — what does CADE’s Apple settlement change for game publishers in Brazil? Since iOS 26.5, Apple lets developers with apps in Brazil distribute through authorized alternative app marketplaces and sell digital goods outside Apple In-App Purchase. That is how the Brazil App Store antitrust case against Apple lands in 2026: a settlement Brazil’s competition authority CADE signed on 23 December 2025, with 105 days for Apple to implement it and a three-year term. The price list matches Apple’s Japan terms rate for rate: a 21% App Store commission (10% for small developers and for subscriptions after their first year), 5% more when Apple processes the payment, 15% on purchases you send to your own website, and a 5% Core Technology Commission on sales through a rival marketplace. The exits are priced, not free; what a publisher gains is control of the payer relationship more than margin.
Brazil now sits with the EU and Japan as a market where Apple permits alternative iOS marketplaces, and it goes further than the UK, whose regime has not opened marketplaces at all. It arrived by a different route: not a statute like the EU’s Digital Markets Act or Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act, but an antitrust settlement. For a game publisher that difference matters less than the fee card and the install flow, which is what this article covers: what CADE actually required, how the timeline ran, what Apple now charges, who has already shipped, and how the iOS opening fits with the Android, OEM and carrier-billing channels already working in Brazil. For the wider regional picture, start with our LATAM distribution playbook.
What did CADE’s settlement with Apple actually require?
CADE’s settlement makes Apple open two things in Brazil: distribution, through alternative app marketplaces, and payment, through alternative processors inside the app and links to outside offers. Everything else is in how Apple implemented it.
CADE’s own announcement of the settlement lists the commitments. Developers may promote offers outside the app; Apple’s payment processing is unbundled from in-app transactions, so developers can offer other payment methods; those alternatives appear alongside Apple’s own option; and “Apple también debe permitir la apertura de canales alternativos de distribución de aplicaciones (tiendas alternativas)”. Any warning screen Apple shows users must be neutral and limited in scope, and the agreement includes child-safety measures and a fee structure.
The enforcement terms are what turn a negotiated deal into something publishers can plan around. CADE says “Antes de eso, Apple tiene 105 días para implementar los cambios”, and that the agreement runs for three years “a partir del momento en que las nuevas condiciones sean obligatorias” for developers. Total non-compliance exposes Apple to a fine “de hasta 150 millones de reales”, the reopening of the investigation and the return of the earlier injunction. Apple also agreed to drop its lawsuit against that injunction.
Read the three-year term carefully. The EU and Japanese regimes are laws with no expiry date; Brazil’s opening is a settlement with a term. That does not mean it closes after three years, but it does mean the commercial case for a Brazil-specific iOS build should pay back inside that window rather than depend on what comes after it.
How did the timeline run, from complaint to iOS 26.5?
The case took three years to settle and about six months to ship. These are the dates a publisher needs:
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| December 2022 | Grupo Mercado Livre files the complaint that opens CADE’s investigation | CADE |
| 23 December 2025 | CADE’s tribunal signs the settlement with Apple | CADE |
| 18 June 2026 | Apple announces the Brazil changes, beginning with iOS 26.5 | Apple Developer news |
| 6 July 2026 | Deadline for current Apple Developer Program members to accept the updated licence agreement | Apple Developer news |
| 30 July 2026 | Epic Games Store becomes downloadable on iPhones in Brazil | MacRumors |
| 30 September 2026 | Android developer verification enforced for users in Brazil |
Apple’s developer news post of 18 June 2026 sets out the scope: “Beginning with iOS 26.5, developers can distribute apps on alternative app marketplaces, operate alternative app marketplaces, process app payments for digital goods and services outside of Apple In-App Purchase in iOS, and more.” It also gave the deadline: “By July 6, 2026, all current members of the Apple Developer Program will need to agree to the latest update to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement”. If your account holder has not done that, nothing else in this article applies to you yet.
What does Apple charge in Brazil, and how does it compare with Japan?
Apple’s Brazil fee card is the same as its Japan card on every rate. The only listed difference is that Brazil adds the News Partner Program to the 10% App Store tier, which is irrelevant to games.
| Charge | Brazil | Japan |
|---|---|---|
| App Store commission, standard | 21% | 21% |
| App Store commission, Small Business, Mini Apps and Video Partner programmes; subscriptions after year one | 10% | 10% |
| Apple payment processing fee (only when Apple In-App Purchase is used) | 5% | 5% |
| Store services commission on web purchases reached through an in-app link | 15% (10% for the same programmes and renewing subscriptions) | 15% (10%) |
| Core Technology Commission on sales through an alternative marketplace | 5% | 5% |
| iOS version that introduced the options | iOS 26.5 | iOS 26.2 |
Sources: Apple’s Changes to iOS in Brazil and Changes to iOS in Japan.
On the App Store, the 21% applies to the “Sale of digital goods or services (including using alternative payments within apps)”. Switching to your own in-app processor removes the 5% processing fee, not the commission. Linking out to your web shop costs 15%, but Apple limits the claim: “Only sales made within 7 days of the link tap are subject to this commission.” Leave the App Store for an alternative marketplace and Apple’s commission drops to the 5% Core Technology Commission, but “App Store functionality like Apple In-App Purchase is not available”, so you bring your own payments.
Three operating costs sit behind the percentages:
- Reporting. Developers must “track and send Apple a report of all alternative payment transactions”, and “This report will need to be provided monthly within 15 days following the end of the calendar month.” On alternative marketplaces, developers report their own transactions too. That is finance-team work every month, in every market where you use these options.
- Tax. For sales processed by an alternative payment provider, collecting and paying the applicable taxes falls on you, not Apple.
- Minors. In games outside the Kids category, players under 18 can be offered an alternative processor in the app, behind a parental gate, but “It cannot provide an out-of-app offer to purchase on a website.” For a game with a young audience, the web-shop route is largely closed in Brazil.
Our view: if you already run alternative payments for Japan, Brazil is a configuration task, not a new project, because the rate card and the reporting obligations carry over. If you have built only for the EU, budget for a different model; our Core Technology Fee breakdown explains why the EU terms do not transfer. Modelling which route pays for your revenue mix (App Store with your own processor, link-out, or a marketplace) is the kind of channel economics our distribution team works through with publishers.
Who is already live, and what did they get right?
Two stores show what the Brazilian opening looks like in practice: Epic, distributing its own games, and Aptoide, already open to third-party developers.
Epic moved early and made a point. MacRumors reported on 30 July 2026 that “the Epic Games Store can now be downloaded on iPhones in Brazil through the Epic Games website”, with Fortnite and Rocket League Sideswipe. It also reported Epic’s two complaints: “Apple is imposing a 9-step install flow for alternative app stores in Brazil”, and “Because of the fees, Epic says it is only offering its own games for now.” Epic deserves credit for doing what most publishers have not: shipping a Brazilian iOS store with its own payments in the first weeks. For a third-party publisher in Brazil, though, it is not yet a store you can list on; our Epic Games Store mobile guide covers how its self-publishing route works where it is open.
Aptoide is the store you can actually list on. Aptoide’s FAQ says its iOS store is “available for iOS exclusively on iPhone devices within the European Union, Japan, and Brazil”, and invites developers to publish there. What it does well is reuse: one marketplace integration that reaches Brazilian iPhones as well as Japanese and European ones. We covered how its iOS model works in our Aptoide iOS guide.
Apple deserves credit too. Notarization in Brazil checks apps against “the Notarization Review Guidelines, a subset of the App Review Guidelines”, covering accuracy, functionality, safety, security and privacy, so a game outside the App Store does not face full App Review. The friction is elsewhere: in the install flow Epic objects to, and in Apple’s requirement that installation be “initiated through an authorized app marketplace”. A marketplace app can be downloaded from the web, as Epic’s is, but your game cannot be installed straight from your own site.
How does the iOS opening stack with Android, OEM and carrier billing in Brazil?
The iOS opening adds a layer to a market where Android distribution beyond Google Play already works. It does not replace those channels.
Device mix comes first. Statcounter’s mobile vendor figures for Brazil, which measure share of mobile web page views across its tracked sites, put October 2026 at Samsung 31.68%, Apple 26.23%, Motorola 16.18% and Xiaomi 15.88%. That makes Apple a large minority of tracked mobile traffic in Brazil, far too big to treat iOS as an afterthought.
On Android, the stores that matter in Brazil are now inside Google’s compliance perimeter. Google’s developer verification guide states that “Starting September 30, 2026, these new developer verification protections go live for users in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand”, checking installs from Google Play, Samsung’s Galaxy Store, Xiaomi’s GetApps and four other OEM stores. Our verification checklist covers what that means for a listing; Aptoide vs Galaxy Store helps you choose the first Android store beyond Play.
Payments sit under all of it. Brazilian mobile accounts are concentrated on Vivo, Claro and TIM, which makes carrier billing a manageable integration for reaching prepaid players that cards and Pix miss; our carrier billing reach map explains where it earns its place. Our reading of the stack:
- iOS App Store with your own processor or link-out: the margin and payer-data play, for games with a mostly adult audience.
- iOS alternative marketplace: a reach test, not a revenue base, until marketplaces with third-party catalogues prove volume.
- Galaxy Store and GetApps on Android: the OEM reach play, now with verification as a precondition.
- Pix and carrier billing in your web shop and store builds: the conversion layer that decides whether the reach you bought pays.
What should a publisher do in the next two quarters?
Prepare the cheap options now and measure them before committing to the expensive ones.
- Check the paperwork. Make sure your account holder accepted the updated Apple licence agreement, and that your Android package names and signing keys are registered for the stores you use in Brazil.
- Add an alternative processor to your App Store build if your audience is mainly adult and your Brazilian payers are worth a reporting workflow. Measure conversion against Apple In-App Purchase, which must stay on screen next to it.
- Notarize one build for a marketplace such as Aptoide and treat it as a cohort test: installs, payer conversion, retention against your App Store cohort over a full monetisation cycle.
- Reuse what you built for Japan. Same rates, same report, same parental-gate logic. Our Japan MSCA guide, our UK DMCC review and our third-party iOS marketplace checklist cover the other openings.
- Do not go yet if your game skews under 18, if Brazil is a rounding error in your revenue, or if nobody on your team owns the monthly transaction report. The settlement makes the options available; it does not make them worth running for every game.
FAQ
Can you distribute an iOS game outside the App Store in Brazil?
Yes, since iOS 26.5. Following its settlement with CADE, Apple lets developers with apps in Brazil distribute through authorized alternative app marketplaces and process payments outside Apple In-App Purchase. Apps outside the App Store still go through Notarization, and installation has to start from an authorized marketplace, not from the developer’s own website.
What did CADE require from Apple?
CADE’s settlement, signed on 23 December 2025, requires Apple to allow alternative app marketplaces, alternative payment processors inside apps and links to outside offers, shown alongside Apple’s own payment option. Apple had 105 days to implement it, the agreement runs for three years from when the conditions become mandatory, and total non-compliance exposes Apple to a fine of up to 150 million reais.
What fees does Apple charge game developers in Brazil?
On the App Store, 21% commission on digital goods, or 10% for Small Business Program members and subscriptions after their first year, plus a 5% fee when Apple In-App Purchase processes the payment. Web purchases reached through an in-app link carry a 15% store services commission (10% for the same cases). Sales through an alternative marketplace carry a 5% Core Technology Commission.
Are Apple’s Brazil terms the same as in Japan?
The rates are the same: 21% and 10% App Store commission, a 5% payment processing fee, 15% and 10% store services commission, and a 5% Core Technology Commission. Brazil adds the News Partner Program to the 10% tier, and the options arrived with iOS 26.5 rather than iOS 26.2. Publishers already set up for Japan can reuse most of that work.
Which alternative iOS stores are live in Brazil?
Epic Games Store became downloadable on iPhones in Brazil on 30 July 2026, offering Epic’s own games such as Fortnite and Rocket League Sideswipe. Aptoide says its iOS store is available on iPhones in the EU, Japan and Brazil and accepts developers there.
If you want a Brazilian iOS route, an Android OEM listing and the payment layer under them planned as one release rather than three projects, talk to our distribution team. Early-stage studios can start with the Founding Developer Program.