Google suggests opening the Play Store to more real money games in India

Google has suggested comprehensive changes to play stores and advertising policies in India, aimed at allowing more real money games applications on their platforms in an attempt to settle the continuous anti -monopoly state with a local online game platform.

On Wednesday, the Indian Competition Control Authority issued a General notification (PDF) Call of Comments on the “commitment suggestion” from Google, where the expansion of access to play stores and advertising policy for more real money applications in South Asia market is expanded.

Google suggested replacing its current experimental program by allowing the distribution of all real money games in the country-which is “announced by developers as real money games on the Internet in accordance with the laws/jurisprudence in force”-on Google Play.

However, developers must also provide evidence that a reliable third party body announced that the application is a “skill game”, as the company suggested.

In September 2022, Google I launched a pilot program To allow fictional sports daily and RUMMY games at the Play Store in India. The move came after the ruling of the year 2021 from the Supreme Court of India, which is classified as “skill games” instead of gambling – and thus “legal”.

Shortly after the launch of the pilot, the online gaming platform and Winzo I filed a complaint With monopoly control in India, the program described the discrimination to exclude other real money games. The Competition Committee in India (CCI) took the case, and in November of that year, An official probe In Google Policies for Real Money Gaming Applications.

In January of last year, Google announced that it would expand the support of real game applications at the Play Store in India, Brazil and Mexico. However, the company Temporarily This offer in June 2024 stated that he would continue to allow the applications listed already in the 2022 pilot of India to stay on the platform.

Besides presenting her store to expand her store to all real money games by developers, Google suggested updating her developer program policies to reflect the update. The company also stated that it will put the finishing touches on a “suitable business model” for real gaming developers.

Likewise, Google suggested allowing the announcement of “skill games” in India where the application maker provides evidence by a third party as a game of skill, not gambling.

The external bodies recognized in this case can be industry societies such as All India Gaming Federation, Electronic Games Union, or Indian Fictional Sports Federation.

Google said she will start allowing real compatible money games at the Play Store in India within 120 days of CCI approval, while relevant advertising policy changes will be in effect within 150 days of regulation order.

“We are happy that CCI is the market test our suggested work frame for real games (RMGs) in India,” Google spokesman said in an e -mail statement to Techcrunch. “This development reflects our constructive discussions with CCI and the Indian developer community, along with our commitment to building a more open and open environmental system for RMG applications via Google Play and Google ADS.”

It is worth noting that the proposal, if accepted by CCI after public comments, will benefit Google, which will get a share of revenues from a wide range of real game applications and ads on their platforms.

Real money games dominate the online games market in India, representing approximately 86 % of the total industry revenues-274.38 billion dollars (3 billion dollars) in 2024-for each a Common report Written by Winzo and the IEIC Entertainment and Innovation Council (IEIC), which was issued earlier this year. However, its share is expected to decrease to 80 % by 2029, as it grows in the popularity of unlike games and the total market expands to 785.51 billion dollars (8.9 billion dollars).

Another Google suggestion can also offer a batch of developers who are currently distributing their applications outside the Play Store – including via APK files on their website. However, CCI’s achievement is still ongoing, and the organizer has not yet determined whether Google is working in discriminatory practices in this field.

The probe adds to an increasing list of anti -monopoly challenges for Google in India, where the technology giant is located in the United States is the headquarters It was already fined to Useful to use her dominance Through Android and Play Store. The company recently He approached the Supreme Court To resume one of these provisions and we compete with CCI results. The case is expected to be listened to next month.

“We look forward to continuing to work with CCI and the wider RMG ecosystem, and we are confident of our proposed framework will enable Indian developers, develop a digital economy, and give priority to the user’s safety,” said Google spokesman.