Google Faces Antitrust Fine In South Korea For Keeping Games Exclusively On PlayStore

With regard to the antitrust dispute over the Activision Blizzard takeover, Microsoft is likely to be monitoring proceedings against Google very closely. The Internet group was fined for restricting games.

The South Korean antitrust authority KFTC had investigated the company because it prevented various games from being offered for download in app stores other than its own PlayStore. The proceedings covered the period from June 2016 to April 2018. At that time, Google made some game developers in South Korea conditional on them not making their games available in the local One Store.

The in-app purchases, which meanwhile represent by far the largest source of income for providers of mobile games, served as a means of exerting pressure. This should only be possible if the games are distributed exclusively via the Play Store. From the KFTC’s point of view, this was a clear violation of competition law, as Google abused its control over the Android platform to eliminate competitors.

Google feels mistreated

Google sees itself as wrongly condemned here. The exclusivity requirement was justified by the fact that one invests “considerably in the success of developers”. Therefore, one apparently sees it as justified to reap most of the fruits of it. Nevertheless, business practices have changed in the meantime, which is probably also due to the fact that one is not sure whether one can defend oneself against the fine of 32 million dollars.

The question of the availability of products on other platforms is currently also a crucial point in the dispute over Microsoft’s takeover plans. Sony in particular fears that its own PlayStation platform will be cut off from games by the large provider Activision Blizzard in the future. It remains to be seen whether Redmond’s temporary concessions will be sufficient.