Google’s move to relax its Play Store policies to allow more real-money games on its app marketplace will throw open the market for gaming companies. Beginning June, the tech giant will onboard other categories of real-money games, other than fantasy and rummy.
The development will benefit real-money gaming companies like WinZo, MPL, among others, who will now be able to host pay-to-play skill games such as poker, chess, etc, on Play Store, and get direct access to a large Android user base.
Till now, real-money gaming companies such as Dream11, Games 24×7, among others, had access to Play Store because their games were in the category of fantasy and rummy, industry executives said.
Google had started a pilot programme in September 2022 in India for gaming companies to distribute daily fantasy sports (DFS) and rummy apps to their users via Play Store for a year. Last year, it had extended the pilot to January 15, which has now been further extended till June 30, when the new policy will come into effect.
Google is also considering a new service fee model for real-money games. It charges 15-30% service fee on in-app purchases and subscriptions. If the developers choose an alternative billing system, they have to pay 11-26% to Google. However, currently real gaming firms don’t have to pay any commission because the project is in the pilot stage. It is not clear what kind of new service fee Google will levy on the real-money gaming apps after June 30.
“We are working closely with developers to ensure our new approach reflects the unique economics and various developer earning models of this industry,” said Karan Gambhir, director of Global Trust and Safety Partnerships at Google, in a blog. “We will have more to share in the coming months on our new policy and future expansion plans,” Gambhir added.
The gaming industry welcomed the move by Google to broad base Play Store for all categories of real-money games. However, industry executives expressed concern on the fee structure the company may roll out, as they are already burdened with a higher goods and services tax (GST) of 28%.
“We believe that this move by Google will give a big boost to the Indian online gaming industry, where over 70% of the revenue is generated by pay-to-play platforms,” said Roland Landers, CEO of All India Gaming Federation (AIGF).
According to Landers, the decision by Google will provide a bouquet of choice to the consumers. “It will especially help MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) and new developers/platforms who will be able to compete with established companies and will substantially bring down the user acquisition and other associated costs,” he said.
More real-money games, however, will be allowed in compliance with the country’s regulatory framework as well as Google’s own policy, keeping in view the safety of users, the company said.
By June, the industry hopes that there will also be clarity on the regulations regarding online gaming firms and self-regulatory organisations (SROs) may be notified by the government.
Credit: Financial Express