Google is planning to add more real-money games to the Play Store

Google declared today that it will enable additional kinds of games in the category that abide by local laws in order to encourage more real-money games (RMG) on the Play Store this year.

According to the search giant, the enhanced support for real-money gaming programme will launch in June in Mexico, Brazil, and India, with plans to expand to more nations in the future.

Additionally, Google is thinking of introducing a new in-app purchase and subscription service fee model. The business, however, withheld a lot of information regarding the percentage it will collect from developers.

“With this policy update, we will also be evolving our service fee model for RMG to reflect the value Google Play provides and to help sustain the Android and Play ecosystems. We are working closely with developers to ensure our new approach reflects the unique economics and various developer earning models of this industry,” Karan Gambhir, Director, Global Trust & Safety Partnerships at Google said in a blog post.

Google has generally approved real-money games for a certain kind that are subject to regional regulatory regimes. The business will allow more real-money gaming apps—which are legal but unregulated—as a result of the policy shift.

In 2021, Google began to work on adding real-money gaming apps to the Play Store. It began an experimental programme in India in 2022 to let Rummy and fantasy sports apps on the regional Play Store. Google gave previously approved apps until January 15 of last year. Additionally, the pilot apps will have a grace period ending on June 30th, per the most recent statement.

Google removed Paytm’s app from the Play Store in 2020 due to the inclusion of recently released fantasy sports features.

Regulations pertaining to ID and age verification were also included in the experiment. Google launched a comparable trial in Mexico in November of last year, and it will run through June 30. Developers will then have the option to release their real-money gambling apps on the Play Store outside of the fantasy sports niche.

Google stated that it will release comprehensive guidelines for the modification within the next few months, incorporating safeguards like age restrictions and geo-restrictions.