In this week's roundup: Google opens Android billing to alternative payments, Squad Busters celebrates 50 million downloads with new content, and AppsFlyer nears a multibillion-dollar buyout that could reshape mobile analytics.

Google Play opens to alternative payment systems in the U.S.

Google is preparing to implement a court-ordered change from its long-running legal battle with Epic Games, allowing developers in the U.S. to use alternative payment systems on Android for the first time. The shift took affect on October 29, 2025, and will let app and game makers bypass Google Play’s standard 30% revenue cut and offer players direct or external payment options.

Implications: The decision marks one of the most significant shifts in mobile game monetization in years. It could lead to lower in-app prices, greater pricing flexibility for developers, and new competitive models - but it also introduces fresh challenges around compliance, fraud, and user trust as developers manage their own billing systems.

Squad Busters hits 50 million downloads and rolls out major update

The global mobile game Squad Busters, developed by Supercell, is being shut down. The company has announced a final content update arriving in December 2025, with server closure planned sometime in 2026 (not before mid-year).

Implications: Even a high-profile new game from a major studio isn’t immune to cancellation when it doesn’t meet expectations. The decision underscores the fierce pressure on live-service mobile titles to achieve rapid growth and sustained monetisation — and signals to developers and players alike that no game is guaranteed a long lifespan.

AppsFlyer nears multibillion-dollar buyout amid ad-tech consolidation

Mobile analytics giant AppsFlyer is reportedly close to a $3–4 billion acquisition by a private-equity consortium, in what could become one of the largest buyouts in the mobile marketing ecosystem this year. The deal, first reported by Israeli outlets, underscores the growing importance of measurement, attribution, and data privacy in mobile gaming and advertising.

Implications: A sale of this scale highlights the accelerating consolidation across mobile analytics and ad-tech. For developers, it may mean fewer independent tool providers, potentially driving up costs or limiting flexibility, while investors see it as a bet on the rising value of accurate, privacy-compliant data infrastructure in a post-IDFA world.