Google Pauses Listing Of RMG Apps On Play Store In India & Globally

Google is “pausing” its plans to expand and allow new kinds of real-money games (RMG) list on the Play Store in India and globally, citing the absence of a central licensing framework and the complexities in developing an appropriate monetisation model.

It is to be noted that Google began onboarding a wider range of RMG apps on the Play Store with pre-existing licensing frameworks in 2021. In January this year, the tech giant announced plans to relax its Play Store policies to allow more types of games in the RMG category to be listed on its app marketplace. 

Google had plans to launch its expanded RMG support to developers for their users in India, Mexico and Brazil in June.

However, a Google spokesperson in a statement on Friday (June 21) said, “Expanding our support of real-money gaming apps in markets without a central licensing framework has proven more difficult than expected and we need additional time to get it right for our developer partners and the safety of our users.” 

“We’re working hard to develop a thoughtful framework – and in the meantime, in India, we are extending the grace period of the pilot program so existing apps offering DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) and Rummy games in India can remain on Play and users can continue to enjoy them. We hope to have further updates in the coming months on a path forward,” the spokesperson added.

Expressing his disappointment at Google’s decision to extend the grace period, Roland Landers, CEO of All India Gaming Federation called the tech giant’s decision “arbitrary and anti-competitive”.

“To Google’s credit, they extensively engaged with the industry over the past year and even announced earlier this year that they would onboard all skill-based Pay to Play games. Given that the Google Play Store conservatively holds over 90% of the app distribution market, it exerts tremendous control over the Indian mobile market. Their decision grants them unchecked control to pick winners in the market, favouring large companies and preventing small and emerging startups from effectively competing in this sector,” he added.

However, the representative body of online gaming said it would continue to engage with Google and hopes that the company will soon implement the policy and level the playing field.

In September 2022, Google began an application-only pilot programme, facilitating the distribution of DFS and rummy game apps developed in India. 

Though the apps were to be allowed to list on the Play Store following approval from self-regulatory bodies (SRBs), Google kept extending the period for the pilot from January last year due to a delay in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notifying the regulatory framework.

After MeitY provided some clarity by introducing online gaming rules in early 2023, the GST council’s decision to impose a 28% GST on the full face value of bets came as a major blow to the industry. 

Google said today that the tech giants want to be clear that its intention to support the distribution of a wider range of RMG apps on Play has not changed but it needs more time to address these challenges. 

“To provide further details, the India pilot grace period extension we announced in January was intended to give us time to navigate the SRBs postponement and the absence of a central licensing framework that identifies permissible and legal RMGs in the country,” the tech giant said. 

It is to be noted that Google had planned to evolve its service fee model for RMG to reflect the value Google Play provides and to help sustain the Android and Play ecosystems. 

“As we shared in January, we have been working closely with developers to ensure our new approach reflects the unique economics and various developer earning models of this industry – but we need additional time to work through a thoughtful approach,” it added.