Starting June 2025, Microsoft will let individual developers publish apps to the Microsoft Store for free. That means no more $19 registration fee to get started.
There’s a catch, though. If developers use Microsoft’s built-in commerce platform to sell their apps or games, the company still takes a cut—15% for apps and 12% for games. But those using third-party commerce tools for non-gaming apps get to keep 100% of their earnings.
Free to publish means it’ll be filled with malware and slop. I hope they have a viable plan to deal with that.
It might be a small decision for the company, but it will be very beneficial for developers.
Not if real devs get drowned under a ton of copycat and malware apps.
Yet.
If the store ever takes off, the enshitification will ensue and MS will demand a sacrifice.