Domestic small and midsize game industry groups urged Google to present a damages plan, including refunding app fees they said were unfairly collected. Google countered that claims it is in settlement talks with domestic developers or promised a deadline for submitting a settlement proposal are not true.
The Korea Mobile Game Association, together with the Korea Game Developers Association and the Korea Artificial Intelligence Game Association, issued a joint statement on the 3rd, saying, "Immediately present a formal written compensation plan in response to the damages claims of the affected game companies."
The groups said Google has forced in-app payments and high fees of up to 30% but has not provided practical compensation to those harmed.
The mobile game association and others said, "Google agreed in the United States to pay $700 million (about 1 trillion won) in lawsuits brought by 50 states, and also settled in the United Kingdom for 260 million pounds (about 500 billion won)." They also said the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Media and Communications Commission should not lower the level of sanctions against Google for reasons such as expanded developer support or policy changes before actual compensation is provided.
Domestic content and game companies filed a class mediation in a U.S. court last year seeking refunds of fees allegedly collected unfairly over 10 years.
In the statement, the association cited news reports from early Aug., saying, "Although Google said it would submit a settlement proposal by the end of Aug., it has yet to present an official written plan."
In response, a Google official said, "Claims that a settlement is underway in the lawsuit with domestic developers in the United States, or that Google promised to submit a settlement plan by a certain time, are groundless."