Web shops and other payment options

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Paying on our own website

A web shop sells coins and items on the studio's own website, through a payment provider like Stripe from Course 1. Whether a game can point players to it depends on each store's rules. Theo wants one, so Kai reads them.

Apple, country by country

Apple's guideline 3.1.1(a) allows "buttons, external links, or other calls to action" to other ways to pay in United States storefront apps.

"In all other storefronts", apps may not include them without one of Apple's special entitlements.

Quick check

Can Kai put a "Buy coins on our website" button in Shard Garden on the UK App Store, with no entitlement?

  1. No: that is allowed only in the United States storefront
  2. Yes, everywhere
  3. Yes, if the button is small
Show the answer

No: that is allowed only in the United States storefront

Apple's rules differ by storefront. The US storefront allows the button; others need an entitlement.

Steam's rule

Valve's build review: "Your product must use Steam Wallet for any in-game transactions."

Inside the Steam version, purchases go through Steam.

Bought on the web, used in the app

Apple's 3.1.3(b) lets coins bought on the studio's website be used in the iPhone app, "provided those items are also available as in-app purchases within the app."

Coins from the web shop

Can an iPhone player spend coins they bought on Shard Garden's website?

  1. Yes, if the app also sells those coins through in-app purchase
  2. Never
  3. Only on Steam
Show the answer

Yes, if the app also sells those coins through in-app purchase

Multiplatform games may honour web purchases, as long as the same items are on sale in the app.

Rules move

These rules change with court cases and new laws, at different times in different countries. Shard Garden reads each store's current guidelines before changing how players pay, and notes the date it checked.

Quick check

A rule that applies in the US App Store applies in every country.

Show the answer

False

Apple's own guideline treats the United States storefront differently from all others.

Europe's own rules

In the EU, a law opened other ways to pay, each with its own fee.

Bolt says: Next: the DMA in Europe.

Fact-checked 12 October 2026