Neon

2026 marked a another milestone for Neon: our first #MRCVegas as a member company. Our Head of Payments, Mukul joined the raw, open conversations this community is known for...the kind that don’t happen in polished decks. As a fast-growing monetization partner for game studios and publishers, payments, risk, and fraud are foundational to our business, and MRC | Merchant Risk Council is where we find the people and partners helping us get it right. Here’s what we’re bringing home from this year: 🤝 Ecosystem partnerships are the product The most meaningful conversations weren’t product pitches. They were merchants, issuers, acquirers, and card schemes talking honestly about shared problems. Mobile gaming sits at the intersection of all of them. Real progress happens when every party in the payments chain is actually aligned, not just technically connected. ⚙️ Payment optimization is table stakes now Payment optimization is no longer a differentiator, it’s the foundation. Programs like VAMP are making the cost of not optimizing very tangible. For gaming, where margins are tied to conversion at scale, connected optimization across the full transaction lifecycle isn’t optional. ⚠️ Disputes are a value chain problem, not a merchant problem This was the most candid conversation of the week. With first-party misuse surging and scheme rules in constant flux, the dispute challenge has outgrown the merchant-only framing. Solving it requires issuers, acquirers, schemes, and merchants aligned on data and incentives, from prevention through resolution. No one party in the chain fixes this alone. 🤖 Agentic commerce is here, but the infrastructure is far from ready. This was the forward-looking thread running underneath everything. AI agents are already executing purchases autonomously. This is a new class of transaction that today’s fraud detection, dispute frameworks, and ecosystem integrations weren’t built for, and for gaming, where AI-driven interactions are already part of the product, this isn’t a distant problem. Proud to be part of this community. Looking forward to what we build from here. #MRCVegas #MRCVegas2026 #MobileGaming #Payments #FraudPrevention #Neon #DTC

If you're running in-app alternative payments or webshop linkouts on Android in the U.S., you can continue without any new fees. But keep an eye on the April 9 court hearing for the next update. Google's March 4 announcements generated a lot of noise. Most coverage focused on the blog post. But March 4 actually produced three separate documents, each with different scope and different implications for developers running DTC. Reading only the blog leaves you with an incomplete picture. We broke down all three sources and what they actually say (and don't say) for your webshop and alternative billing strategy. Read the full breakdown --> https://lnkd.in/gyWYHW6t

Looking forward to being at #MRCVegas26 next week! MRC | Merchant Risk Council conferences are always one of the best places to have real conversations with people deep in payments, fraud, risk, and commerce operations — not just about trends, but about what is actually working. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces, meeting new ones, and trading notes on the opportunities and challenges ahead. If you’re attending, let’s find time to connect. Las Vegas | March 16–19, 2026 Neon #MRCVegas26 #Payments #Gaming #MobileGaming #Risk #Fraud #Commerce

We've been walking our partners through Google Play's new programs in the U.S. (alternative billing and external content links) for the last few months. We are getting lots of questions from the game developer community in general, so we're making our technical guide public to everyone. Here's what it covers: - The two programs Google now requires enrollment in if you're offering alternative payments or webshop linkouts to U.S. Android users . - The key difference between the two programs. - What each program requires from a Play Billing Library integration standpoint - Where Unity IAP currently stands with support for each - Options for implementation if you're on Unity or otherwise One thing worth being upfront about: we're not here to tell any developer whether they should or shouldn't enroll in these programs. Every situation is different, and each publisher/developer should the call that is right for them. This guide is meant to help you navigate the details so you can make that decision with clarity. Full guide ---> https://lnkd.in/gK2wXMwr

We have a few spots left for our breakfast event at #GDC on the morning of March 10th. If you want to join, comment here or send us a DM and we can give you the RSVP link (please note we're looking to reserve the last few spots for mobile game devs and publishers). Here's what we've got lined up: 🔥 💬 DTC as a Capability  Rosa Villegas, Senior Director of Product at Zynga, joins Neon CEO Chris Faught to share what she's learned about setting up an organization for DTC success, including helpful hacks and common pitfalls. 📊 The Markets with the Most DTC Upside  Neon's Head of Payments, Mukul Chawla, will walk through a focused 10-minute analysis on where payment localization unlocks DTC revenue. It's a small, laid-back setting with breakfast served, and plenty of time to connect with peers and dig into what's working (and what isn't) across the industry.

Neon is headed to GDC 2026. Our team will be meeting with publishers and developers all week to talk DTC strategy, direct monetization optimization, and how to grow profits. We're looking forward to checking out the revamped GDC Festival of Gaming event this year. There's something special about the global gaming community coming to our home base of San Francisco each spring, and we look forward to it every year. If you want to connect during the week, DM any of us and we'll find time: Chris Faught Mukul Chawla Chloe Cave Sena Erverdi Rohan Ramchand See you there.

We’re hiring at Neon 🚀 I'm looking for a high-calibre, driven sales leader to help us grow a fast-moving DTC commerce company. If you’re excited about games and the infrastructure that powers commerce, enjoy building early, and want real ownership, I'd love to chat! More details and apply here 👉 https://lnkd.in/g8pacTA8

Gamesforum Barcelona is coming up and Chloe Cave & Sena Erverdi from our Growth Team will be there. Working on direct-to-consumer strategies for your games? They're available to talk. Send them a message or find them on the floor.

Epic Games v. Google Settlement Hearing: What Game Developers Should Know Yesterday's (22 January 2026) hearing made headlines for the reveal of a secret $800M partnership between Epic and Google (covering Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and Android over six years.) But no official decisions or changes came out of the court. This was one checkpoint in the ongoing process of evaluating the proposed settlement. So what happened? Here's a quick recap and links to additional resources👇 The focus of the hearing was on third-party app stores and their potential access to the Android global app catalog. Epic and Google argued that applying their proposed settlement globally (not just the U.S.) is a major unlock for competition. Impartial witness and court-appointed MIT economist Dr. Nancy L. Rose said the settlement would "fall far short" of fixing anticompetitive issues. Judge James Donato communicated his skepticism throughout, going as far as saying, "You've got a hike to tell me that something has changed so much in the world that I should change that injunction, and I'm not hearing it." The fee structures that were included in the proposed settlement (9% for cosmetics, 20% for consumables, and +5% for Google Play Billing) weren't mentioned. The new Android U.S. policy that was announced on December 9, 2025 outlining 25% alternative billing fees and 20% external linking fees weren't mentioned. What's next: Both sides have until early March to file additional briefs. No decision on the settlement yet. Bottom line: If you're waiting for clarity on Google's fee structure for alternative in-app billing and linking to web-based payments, you'll be waiting until at least March. Report from PocketGamer.biz here: https://lnkd.in/gWM2vzGB Courtroom reporting by Sean Hollister at The Verge: https://lnkd.in/eWMdr_7v Neon's breakdown of the Epic & Google settlement: https://lnkd.in/g6mGVaaM Neon's summary of Google Play’s New U.S. Billing & Linking Policies from December 9, 2025: https://lnkd.in/gQiVM9v4

If you want to follow along, see below as the livestream isn't up and running right now.