Google Play has suspended payments indefinitely to developers with bank accounts registered in Russia, starting December 26, 2024. From this moment, all attempts by users to purchase paid applications or subscriptions from such developers will be rejected. The last payment that developers will be able to receive is scheduled for January 15, 2025. However, the applications will remain in the store. Here are the details.
Representatives of Google explained that all transactions related to purchases and subscriptions through «Google Play Payments» will be rejected. This decision is a continuation of a series of restrictions imposed by the company on the Russian market.
As a reminder, in March 2022, Google disabled advertising in Russia and stopped monetization on YouTube for Russian users, which did not affect the audience from other countries. In the same month, the Google Pay payment system was suspended, depriving users of the ability to pay for applications and subscriptions.
Experts note that this decision will negatively affect indie developers and small studios in Russia, who still received a significant portion of their income from abroad. Large companies focused on the international market have already changed their jurisdiction in 2022-2023, and now it is the turn of medium-sized studios that continued to operate in Russia through local banks.
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