Direct-to-consumer (D2C)

Also called D2C, DTC, direct-to-player

Selling currency, items and games to players through the studio's own channels, such as a web shop or in-app alternative payments, in place of an app store or platform checkout.

For mobile studios, D2C mostly means moving spend from Apple’s and Google’s billing, at up to 30%, to a web shop where payment costs are much lower. Playtika says its payment processing costs are “typically 3 to 4%, compared to the 30% platform fee” (Playtika 10-Q).

Listed publishers report the shift each quarter. In Q2 2026, Playtika’s D2C platforms made up 39.3% of revenue, up from 25.3% a year earlier (Playtika). Stillfront put 46% of bookings through D2C, and DoubleDown 52.4% of social casino revenue. Take-Two calls its D2C push “primarily” an internal effort, and its president told investors, “It improves our margins” (Take-Two call).

D2C changes the income statement as well as the margin. Stillfront describes its shift as “negative for net revenue but accretive to gross profit and gross margin” (Stillfront Q2 2026). How each channel is booked depends on the gross-versus-net judgement. The executive briefing sets out the decision.