The online skill gaming industry has had a moment to celebrate after Google chose to open its Play Store for Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) and Rummy applications. Last week, the tech giant announced a one-year pilot program for DFS and Rummy applications to be accessible on the Google Play Store in India, beginning September 28, 2022.
The move helps skilled gaming administrators acquire public authenticity, as being on the Google Play Store will empower the users to more effectively recognize genuine platforms.

“A progressive step, however, needs to be inclusive,” Mr. Roland Landers, CEO of the All India Gaming Federation, comments on Google’s change of stance on fantasy sports and online gaming in India.

The Alphabet company is starting a pilot program to bring fantasy sports and rummy apps to the Play Store, according to Google’s support pages. The one-year pilot will start on September 28.

Mr. Landers further added, “AIGF has been advocating for a while that all games of skill be allowed on Google Playstore to augment the Indian online skill gaming industry. Therefore, it is a progressive step that Google has undertaken with this pilot program in India. However, games of skill are a broad category, and fantasy gaming and rummy are just two game formats considered in this pilot program by Google. Poker, too, is considered a game of skill by several high courts in India. Likewise, numerous developers offer classic as well as innovative games of skill. As AIGF, we believe that Google should have an inclusive approach by adding all these games of skill under the umbrella of this pilot project for India to keep the competitive spirit of the industry intact and promote innovation.

Google Play Store is a must-have, accounting for nearly 95% of the app distribution platform market in India. This approach by Google especially will be challenging for MSMEs and new developers/platforms who will not be able to compete with established companies as their varied skill game offerings will be kept out of the Play Store ecosystem.”

The online skill gaming industry ought to look at this move by Google as a step towards empowering online skill games and not something that might be discriminatory or unfair on part of Google, as it might lead to a more expansive and robust policy in the coming future for the presentation of online skill games on its Playstore.

Credit: The Week