Google announced today that it plans to support more real money games (RMG) on the Play Store this year, allowing more types of games to be added in categories that comply with local laws.
The search giant said the program will launch in India, Brazil and Mexico in June, providing expanded support for real-money games, with plans to launch in more countries in the future.
Google is also considering new service charging models for subscriptions and in-app purchases. However, the company did not disclose details about the commission it charges developers.
“With this policy update, we will also improve RMG’s service fee model to reflect the value provided by Google Play and help sustain the Android and Play ecosystem. We are working closely with developers to ensure that our new approach reflects this The industry’s unique economic conditions and various developer profit models.” Karan Gambhir, director of global trust and safety partnerships at Google, said in a blog post.
Typically, Google allows real money gaming applications that are governed by a specific type of local regulatory framework. With the policy change, the company will allow more types of real-money gaming apps that are legal but unregulated.
Google started working on including real money gaming apps in the Play Store in 2021. In 2022, it launched a pilot in India to allow fantasy sports and rummy apps to be listed on the local Play Store. Last year, Google extended the deadline for approved apps to January 15th. According to the latest announcement, pilot applications will have a grace period until June 30.
In 2020, Google removed Paytm’s app from the Play Store because the app contained newly introduced fantasy sports elements.
The pilot program also has provisions for age verification and identity verification. Google launched a similar pilot in Mexico last November, which will also be extended to June 30. After this, developers will be able to publish real-money gaming apps outside of the fantasy sports category on the Play Store.
Google said it will release a detailed policy on the change in the coming months, but it will include guardrails such as age restrictions and geo-restrictions.
A new service fee for real-money games will be a key factor in Google Play Store revenue as the company faces global scrutiny over allowing developers to use alternative payment methods. It typically offers a 4% discount on service fees under its user-selected billing plan, which it piloted in 2022 and still has select partners.
