An Indian Parliamentary panel called a July 21st meeting in which the skill-based gaming industry called for the government’s intervention to curb the “arbitrary” policies of Google. The industry is alleging that Google prohibits Indian skill-games from listing on its platform, while giving latitude to foreign gaming apps.
The panel is examining this as “anti-competitive behavior” on the part of Google, who promotes its own platform Play Pass and other Chinese and western games, all the while disallowing similar Indian titles.
The gaming industry leaders also brought to the panel’s attention how Google tries to dissuade users who directly download online gaming apps by displaying warning messages. This, according to the industry body, unfairly prevents other Android app stores from advertising on its platform, effectively limiting consumer choice.
These allegations are not exactly new for Google, who has been in a battle with India’s gaming industry since January, when the Competition Commission of India ordered a probe into the tech giant for alleged abuse of dominant position.
In March, the Commission found Google Play Store’s billing policy to be “unfair” and “discriminatory,” and said that the app marketplace kept some of its own apps out of the Google Billing Payment System. Google charges a commission of 15-30% on app developers, which critics have pointed out, is so high, it could wreak havoc on small start-ups.
Google has also been accused of putting its own products ahead of others, which also stifles competition by including higher rankings for its products, or by stalling bug fixes on competitor apps.
These problems aren’t just between India and Google however. Google is currently facing antitrust probes in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands. Looks like they’ve got a lot of work and explaining to do.
(All information was provided by Inc42)
0 comments on “The Gaming Industry Is Unhappy With Google”