Google has put a hold on its plans to support more types of real-money gaming apps on the Play Store. The announcement comes just days before the scheduled expansion in India, Brazil, and Mexico.
Google has been running pilot programs to support real-money gaming (RMG) apps on the Play Store in several regions for a while now. Earlier this year, the company announced it would expand support for more game types and operators in India, Brazil, and Mexico starting in July. But it has now paused the expansion citing challenges in markets that lack proper licensing frameworks.
Licensing Challenges and Regulatory Hurdles
TechCrunch reports that Google is keen on supporting more types of RMG apps on the Play Store, but it has faced issues identifying the type of games allowed in markets that don’t have a central body to approve such apps. The company seems to have taken this step to avoid unwanted regulatory hurdles.
In a statement outlining the development, a Google spokesperson had this to say:
"Expanding our support of real-money gaming apps in markets without a central licensing framework has proven more difficult than expected and we need additional time to get it right for our developer partners and the safety of our users. Google Play remains deeply committed to helping all developers responsibly build new businesses and reach wider audiences across a variety of content types and genres."
The company has clarified that while it won’t expand support for new types of RMG apps, those released as part of the pilot program in India will continue to operate. It isn’t immediately clear if this also applies to apps released during the pilot program in Mexico.
Future Plans and Framework Development
Although Google may have paused the expansion, it’s still trying to develop a suitable framework to offer a wider range of RMG apps on the Play Store. It is also working on introducing a new service fee structure for such apps, but it has yet to work out all the details.
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