What you should know
- Google Play is planning to support more real-money gaming (RMG) apps this year, including game types and operators not covered by an existing licensing framework.
- The expanded RMG support will initially launch in June for users in India, Mexico, and Brazil, with plans to expand to more countries later.
- Google Play’s existing developer policies, such as requiring age-gating to limit RMG experiences to adults and requiring developers to use geo-gating to offer RMG apps only where legal, will remain unchanged.
- There will be a service fee for RMG apps. Previously, these apps had to be free to install and couldn’t use Google Play Billing, but this is set to change according to Google’s new policy.
Full Story
“RMG apps are gaining traction on Google Play,” reports the Android Developers Blog. RMG, or real-money gaming, includes any online game where the outcome involves staking money.
9to5Google reminds us of something interesting. Google started allowing gambling and betting Android apps in the Play Store in 2021. But there was a catch – this was only in markets with pre-existing licensing frameworks.
“Since then, this app category has continued to flourish with developers creating new RMG experiences for mobile,” Google states. They add something else too. Based on the learnings from the pilots and positive feedback from users and developers, Google Play will begin supporting more RMG apps this year. This includes game types and operators not covered by an existing licensing framework.
Here’s the plan. Google Play will launch the expanded RMG support in June to developers for users in India, Mexico, and Brazil. And if all goes well, they’ll expand to more countries later.
But wait, there’s more. Google Play’s existing developer policies supporting user safety, such as requiring age-gating to limit RMG experiences to adults and requiring developers to use geo-gating to offer RMG apps only where legal, remain unchanged. “We’ll continue to strengthen them,” the blog reads.
Google Play isn’t stopping there. They’ll continue other key user safety and transparency efforts such as “expanded developer verification mechanisms”.
And here’s the kicker. There will be a service fee. Previously, the RMG apps had to be free to install and couldn’t use Google Play Billing. But, according to Google, that’s about to change.
“We are working closely with developers to ensure our new approach reflects the unique economics and various developer earning models of this industry. We will have more to share in the coming months on our new policy and future expansion plans”. So, stay tuned for more updates.
 apps this year, with an expanded launch in India, Mexico, and Brazil in June, while maintaining user safety policies and introducing a service fee.){kind=link}