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South Korea's FTC Investigates Google Play Amid Claims of Marketplace Abuse

Google could potentially be pressuring developers into launching exclusively via Google Play. 

Brittany Vincent

April 17, 2018 9:45 AM

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Rough times could be coming for Google Play, as it's currently under investigation by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission. It appears the ubiquitous marketplace could have been abusing its position to pressure game developers to launch their games exclusively on the Google Play platform. With allegations on the horizon, South Korea's FTC has to do its due diligence and investigate said claims.

The Korea Herald reports that the FTC has been interviewing mobile game studios in a bid to determine if there's any truth to the claims levied against Google Play. The organization has been asking specifically if Google asked them to either "launch their games only through specific app marketplaces" or to "not launch their games via other app marketplaces." Neither is an acceptable practice, as you can imagine, so this is likely going to produce some interesting results when the surveys are completed.

Currently, the app marketplace in Korea is largely taken over by Google Play, as over 90 percent of the mobile gaming population tend to use Android devices. If this is happening in South Korea and proven to be an issue, it could be happening elsewhere. This could be the beginning of a burgeoning investigation into the company's operations in other markets.

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!