In-App subscription payments now offered in Google’s Play Store

For app developers around the globe, making a profit for your efforts is a good thing. While some take the route of free apps with ads, a one time charge to buy an app or even in app purchases, making profit is what drives them. Especially the more labor intensive games from some of the bigger developing companies. Google is now expanding on payment options for developers to include options for monthly reoccurring payments. The monthly, or even annual, subscription based services are readily known for many high-end games found on various consoles and PC’s already and they make a killing with them.

Glu mobiles Frontline Commando is the first game in the Play Store to take advantage of the new subscription based services. Based on what you want to pay monthly, you get will access to extras that others paying less won’t have access too.

“We’re using Google Play subscriptions to offer consumers a compelling value and a single currency which they can use across Glu’s most popular titles” says Niccolo de Masi, CEO of Glu. “We’re excited to bring these capabilities to our Android users and we believe that Google Play subscriptions will fuel further growth in our business.”

This same subscription service can also be used outside of games and application for uses with magazines and newspapers as well. Google is also offering an HTTP-based publisher API that will allow developers to authenticate paying subscribers that will give them access to certain things based on confirmation of their services. Think of it like a subscription to the New York Times, you pay for the subscription and the NYT would then provide you access to a web-based view of the paper. At least that is our understanding of it.

With piracy always a big concern with developers and content providers, this is sure to ease a lot of fears. This could very well be the next big thing to take over the Play Store, much like in-app purchases have done. Offering you a major perk for a subscription to your favorite games takes out the need for paying for in game coins online and is much easier and safer for consumers. Not to mention it will put Google in a great position to bring more high-end developers to Android. It should prove to produce some great new content for us all.

Source: Android Developers