For a while now Vole has been copying the Apple app store business model which involves stinging developers for a third of their money for no apparent value. However, now that Apple's App store antics are proving to be a public relations disaster, Vole has decided it is better to be a little more reasonable.

The target of the move is not Apple. The software giant is reducing its cut from 30 percent to just 12 percent from 1 August, in a clear bid to compete with Steam and entice developers and studios to bring more PC games to its Microsoft Store.

 Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios at Microsoft said: "Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms."

He said that a clear, no-strings-attached revenue share means developers can bring more games to more players and find greater commercial success from doing so. 

The changes will only affect PC games and not Xbox console games in Microsoft's store. While Microsoft hasn't explained why it's not reducing the 30 percent it takes on Xbox game sales, it's likely because the console business model is entirely different to PC. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo subsidise hardware to make consoles more affordable and offer marketing deals in return for a 30 percent cut on software sales.

Microsoft's new reduction on the PC side is significant, and it matches the same revenue split that Epic Games offers PC game developers while also putting more pressure on Valve to reduce its Steam store cut. Valve still takes a 30 per cent cut on sales in its Steam store, which is reduced to 25 percent when sales hit $10 million, and then 20 percent for every sale after $50 million.