A regulatory act enacted by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) in 2024 to curtail mobile app gatekeeping will go into effect this month.
What Is the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) and When Does It Go Into Effect?
The Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) goes into effect on December 18, 2025 and will, among other things, require companies such as Apple and Google to allow third-party payment systems and third-party app stores within their mobile ecosystems.
Is Japan’s MSCA Similar to What Other Countries and Unions Are Doing?
Many countries around the world are enacting similar regulations and laws around mobile steering for payments — also referred to as D2C (direct to consumer) or app2web — including the EU, Brazil, and the U.S. (there are separate ongoing legal cases involving Google and Apple).
However, the MSCA in Japan is unique for a couple of reasons:
- It will affect both Android and iOS, not distinguishing between the platforms.
- It addresses native payments, or payments directly inside the game processed by a third party such as FastSpring.
Since this is the first ruling impactfully addressing native payments, this is an area we’ll be monitoring closely.
What Platforms Will Be Affected by the MSCA?
This act will affect any platforms that the act qualifies as “designated providers,” which we can safely assume includes the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
What Other Changes Does the MSCA Include?
Steering is only one of many changes that will be enforced when the MSCA takes effect in Japan in December. To read more about how the act unlocks alternative app stores, requires greater transparency in the platforms’ app review process, and ultimately represents a targeted effort to enable fair and open digital markets, you can find the “tentative translation” English version of the guidelines as published by the JFTC here.
Related Reading
- Japan Releases ‘Mobile Software Competition Act Guidelines’ Targeting Apple and Google (August 2025)
- Japan Enacts Regulatory Law Targeting Apple and Google Smartphone Marketplace Dominance (June 2024)
About FastSpring
FastSpring is how gaming studios and mobile app makers sell in more places around the world. For nearly two decades, FastSpring has been a payment provider you can use to sell apps, games, or in-game items on your website, web shop, or embedded directly into your app with fully customizable and branded checkouts just for you. FastSpring allows you to offload the complexity of global payments, sales tax and VAT compliance, player payments support, and many other aspects of payments management. Spend less time managing your payments and compliance and more time making great apps!
