Kyungsillyeon Raises Allegations of Collusion Among Google and Four Game Companies... "Not True" Rebuttal

On the 21st, a press conference titled 'Report to the Fair Trade Commission on Google and Four Game Companies Regarding In-App Payment Rebates and Monetization Privileges' is being held. Photo by Yonhap News.

Civic groups including the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) have raised allegations of collusion involving Google and four domestic game companies.

On the 21st, CCEJ, the Korea Game Users Association, and the Korea Game Consumers Association held a press conference claiming that domestic game companies NCSoft, Netmarble, Com2uS, Pearl Abyss, and Google unfairly profited from in-app payments.

Previously, in April last year, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) imposed a fine of 42.1 billion KRW and corrective orders, stating that Google Play maintained a monopoly by offering benefits such as top placement on app screens to four game companies on the condition that they only released games on Google Play and not on competitors' platforms.

CCEJ and others explained that the allegations pertain to the period after the KFTC's previous investigation and relate to Google Play's in-app payments. In-app payments refer to paid content transactions conducted within the app, through which app market operators earn commissions.

Based on financial data related to Google, CCEJ and others estimated the scale of unfair trade, including rebate revenue sharing related to in-app payments, at 1.2667 trillion KRW, and the unfairly obtained operating profit at 685 billion KRW.

They urged the KFTC to impose a fine of 69.8 billion KRW, issue corrective orders to reduce the in-app payment commission rate from 30% to 4-6%, and conduct a full-scale investigation.

In response, Google stated, "The interpretation of the Google Play business claimed by CCEJ is not accurate," adding, "Google Play provides various benefits to developers and users in Korea and competes fairly with other app markets." They also said, "Google Play's commission rate is among the lowest in app markets, and 99% of developers are subject to a commission rate of 15% or less."

NCSoft stated, "There has been no fact of causing harm to other companies or users in exchange for increasing the influence of a specific platform." Netmarble also said, "We have not received rebates or engaged in unfair collusion or illegal activities." Com2uS explained, "We have never engaged in unfair practices such as restricting releases on other app markets or received compensation for such actions." Pearl Abyss emphasized, "We have not restricted releases on other app markets or engaged in collusion or other unfair practices."