Google has revealed that it is going to facilitate more RMG apps, both covered under a licensing framework and not on its Play Store In India, Mexico, and Brazil later this year. The technology giant will also levy a service fee on these apps.
“Referring to the results achieved during pilots and positive users’ responses as well as developers’, Google Play will start providing support over more RMG apps this year, including different sorts of games upheld by no licensing system yet established,” the company said on Friday.
The “enhanced RMG support” starts in June for developers in India, Mexico, and Brazil, intending to expand the service eventually into more countries.
Google is also considering a service fee model for subscription and in-app purchases of real money games. The company did not reveal how much the new fee would be but currently charges 15-30 percent service fees on purchases made in the app and sales of apps done through Google Play. However, Google claims that the service fee applies when a developer sells digital products or services in their app. “Today, fewer than 3 percent of developers in India sell digital goods or services and therefore would need to pay a service fee. For the majority of app developers in India, our fees are 15 percent or less – the lowest rates of any major app store — due to the diverse pricing programs Google Play provides.”
This comes at a time when Indian RMG firms are struggling with a 28 percent blanket tax on online gaming. New rules, taking effect from October 1, do not differentiate games of skill or luck.
In, 2022, Google rolled out a toy program allowing it to deliver daily fantasy sports DFS and rummy apps for users in India. It gave a grace period to current pilot apps placed on Google Play up until January 15, 2024, and now this has been prolonged till June as per the new policy of
After the period of grace, developers will get the rights to release their RMG apps on Google Play for Indian users beyond DFS and rummy following local laws as well as updates that have been made within a company’s policy.
Google Play’s user safety supporting developer policies, such as age-gating to limit RMG experiences among adults and placing geo-blocking on the offering of RM applications where laws are not present, will stay the same. The company also mentioned that it would continue expanding its developer verification mechanisms on Google Play.
Stakeholders in the industry welcomed Google’s recent move, stating that it will enable upcoming Indian game developers to compete with major gaming companies. Roland Landers, CEO of the All India Gaming Federation, said: “As the representative voice for gaming in India, we wholeheartedly welcome this pragmatic move by Google to permit all pay-to-play games of skill on Play Store. Over 70 percent of the revenue of the Indian online industry is generated through such platforms and thus comes under our lobbying.”
He also said that this decision would benefit “responsible innovation” and allow MSMEs and new developers to compete with well-established companies because the user acquisition cost would be significantly lowered along with other associated costs.
By FY 23, the RMG segment had an 84 percent share in online gaming. A report by consulting firm EY states, however, that this would come down to 75 percent from FY28 onwards following the new tax regime. It is estimated that by FY28, the RMG category would generate direct taxes of Rs 6,500-6800 crore and Rs 75,000-76,000 crore in indirect taxes by FY28.
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