Google was penalized 42.1 billion won ($31.88 million) by South Korea’s antitrust commission for limiting mobile game releases on a competitor’s platform.
On Tuesday, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) stated Google boosted its market dominance and damaged the local app market One Store’s income and value by mandating video game producers to only distribute their products on Google Play in return for in-app promotion between June 2016 and April 2018.
Google will analyze the KFTC’s final ruling to determine its future steps.
“We respectfully disagree with the KFTC’s conclusions,” a spokeswoman stated.
The KFTC said the measure against the U.S. tech giant is part of government efforts to promote fair markets.
The antitrust agency said Google’s move affects Netmarble (251270. KS), Nexon (225570. KQ), NCSOFT (036570. KS), and other game developers.
The KFTC penalized Google over 200 billion won in 2021 for prohibiting modified Android versions.
