Scaling Europe Podcast: Maor Sason on the Next Era of Mobile Game Monetization

Maor Sason, CEO of Appcharge, joined Seb Johnson on the Scaling Europe podcast to talk about the shift reshaping mobile games - as regulation and platform dynamics open the door to direct-to-consumer monetization. In the conversation, Maor breaks down why DTC is accelerating, what publishers are leaving on the table with the 30% app store take rate, how Appcharge approaches Apple and Google, and what it takes to scale a global payments and commerce platform from Israel.

What Appcharge is building

Appcharge is building a direct-to-consumer (DTC) monetization suite for mobile game developers - a way to sell directly to players and reduce the 30% platform fee charged by app stores. Maor frames it as “Shopify for mobile games", built by a team of mobile games operators who have lived the problem first-hand.

Why D2C, and why now

When Appcharge started, DTC was not mainstream in the mobile games conversation. Many studios were hesitant to bypass the app stores, even in compliant ways, because their entire business depended on those platforms. Maor and Appcharge co-founder Roei Barassi came from mobile games, saw a clear gap after the Epic vs Apple moment reshaped the conversation, and committed to building the infrastructure studios would need to do DTC properly.

The $41M per day problem

The conversation touches on a headline stat from Appcharge’s recent report: top publishers are losing an estimated $41M per day to platform fees. Maor connects that figure to the scale of mobile games overall - roughly $100B in annual in-app spend today, with expectations that it could reach $200B by the end of the decade.

Navigating Apple and Google

Maor describes the relationship with Apple and Google as “complex." He respects the platforms and sees Appcharge as part of the ecosystem, especially as regulation evolves. His view: the platforms do not want a “wild west" and may ultimately prefer partners who help studios operate professionally and compliantly. He also argues the platforms are unlikely to “do DTC themselves" in a way that meaningfully reduces fees, because their incentives push them to maximize take rate.

Why Appcharge publishes thought leadership

Publishing data and analysis is a deliberate strategy: raise industry awareness, create urgency for teams who are behind, and give credit to the broader ecosystem. As Maor puts it, when DTC becomes a bigger topic, Appcharge should be part of that conversation - with signal, not noise.

Fundraising, global expansion, and the next phase

Maor credits multiple investors across rounds and points to two core drivers: the size of the market opening up (regulatory and platform shifts creating a new category), and Appcharge’s team - a concentration of mobile games and payments talent, largely based in Israel.

How the capital is being deployed

Most of the spend is on people: R&D and product development in particular. Appcharge is ~140 employees, with the largest concentration in Israel, plus go-to-market and support roles across multiple global locations.

What it will take to win the next chapters

Near-term, Maor highlights maintaining growth and continuing to expand the product suite so the company is not dependent on a single product. Longer-term, he hints at potential expansion beyond mobile games into adjacent segments like PC games and consumer apps.

Lessons Maor is applying as Appcharge scales

Maor ends with a founder’s mindset: treat it like a marathon, stay attentive to people, stay human, collaborate, and be ready to sprint when the timing is right. Growth is not only about having the wind at your back - it’s about being prepared when it arrives.