In South Korea, Google has been accused of bribing gaming companies to persuade them not to sue the company
In October, the Korea Mobile Game Association urged South Korean gaming companies to join a class action lawsuit against Google and Apple regarding monopoly control over the mobile store market. Two months later, several organizations claimed that Google is persuading developers to withdraw from the lawsuit.
The Korea Game Users Association, the Korea Game Consumers Association, and the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice made these accusations. According to them, Google is offering gaming companies various incentives, such as increased advertising for their games on Google Play.
Whether anyone has accepted Google's offer remains unspecified. As of December 2, it is known that 45 gaming companies have joined the class action lawsuit.
Google has not commented on the allegations.
Although the lawsuit was initiated in South Korea, the proceedings against Google and Apple will take place in the United States. The issue is the high commission in Google Play and the App Store. The plaintiffs claim that the corporations used their dominant market position to overcharge fees. Preliminary estimates suggest that between 2020 and 2023, Google and Apple caused "damage due to IAP commission" to mobile developers amounting to over 9 trillion won (6.3 billion dollars).
Notably, in 2021, Google, at the behest of South Korean authorities, allowed developers to use third-party payment systems within the country and reduced its commission from 30% to 26%. However, later reports emerged that the corporation was pressuring developers to work with its payment system.
