The Ledger #6: Play policy, stores, and a quiet Apple

Google and Epic drop the settlement

Epic and Google jointly withdrew their proposed Play Store settlement on July 15. The October 2024 injunction now governs outright, with Google confirming compliance from July 22. What it means for buyers: less ambiguity. There is no longer a pending deal that could change the rules underneath a live campaign.

Third-party stores go live in the US

Following through on the June 22 developer notice, Google began surfacing third-party Android app stores in the US Play experience on July 22. What it means for buyers: check this week that your MMP's attribution logic covers the new listing surface, and if an organic-install anomaly shows up, treat the stores as the first suspect rather than a coincidence.

The same policy cycle tightened more than stores

Stores weren't the only change. Google's July 15 update also tightened child-safety rules and anonymous-chat rules; it restricted READ_CALL_LOG verification, and it extended user-data rules to third-party AI integrations. What it means for buyers: a compliance review triggered by the stores news is a reasonable moment to check these too, particularly for apps with chat or social features.

Drake Star counts a busy quarter

Drake Star's Q2 report, out July 16, put gaming investment above 2.5 billion dollars across 96 rounds, a 12-month high led by AI and ad tech, with 1.4 billion dollars of M&A across 51 deals including Playstack and CCP Games as well as Supercell's purchase of Metacore. What it means for buyers: capital is following tooling and infrastructure this quarter, which tends to show up later as new creative and measurement products from vendors already in your stack.

Take-Two confirms the autumn everyone expected

Take-Two has confirmed GTA 6's marketing campaign begins this summer, holding the November 19, 2026 release date. What it means for buyers: start modelling elevated CPMs into your autumn media plan now. A campaign of that scale pulling broad attention typically pushes up the cost of reaching the same audience across every other app, and this one comes with a fixed date to plan against.