Google has announced that it will reduce the cut it takes on subscription-based applications in its Play Store for Android smartphones, in the latest capitulation to regulatory criticism over whether the corporation has overcharged developers.

Google said in a blog post on Thursday that it will cut its commissions on subscriptions for applications purchased through its Play Store to 15%. Google now takes a 30% share for the first year of subscriptions, then drops to 15% for the second and subsequent years. Beginning in January, Google will eliminate the two-step procedure and apply the reduced price from the start.

Some e-books and streaming music services will be eligible for rates as low as 10%, according to Google. It wasn't immediately apparent which services or books would be eligible, or how the percentage would be calculated.

In March, Google reduced its share of the first $1 million generated through the Play Store from 30% to 15%, intending to relieve the financial strain on smaller developers. It comes on the heels of Apple slashing a similar commission.

The newest Play Store adjustments reflect Google and Apple's efforts to reduce the costs they charge developers to distribute their products through their respective app stores. Apple established its commission at 30% when it launched the App Store in 2008, and Google quickly followed suit with a similar price structure.

However, as businesses grew based on applications that ran on smartphones and tablets, a rising number of developers began to wonder if a 30% cut was excessive and a result of the lack of competition in the app store industry.

A consortium of 36 states and the District of Columbia sued Google earlier this year, alleging that the company's app store abused its market dominance. Epic Games, the creator of the famous video game Fortnite, has launched a lawsuit against Google after the search giant deleted the game's app for bypassing its payment system and avoiding expenses. Google launched a countersuit against Epic last week.