Look, let's be honest about this. On September 3, the Korea Mobile Game Association, alongside the Korea Game Developers Association and the Korea AI Game Association, stepped up and demanded that Google immediately table a compensation plan and issue payouts to domestic game developers in South Korea.

The three associations pointed out that while Google has been happily imposing in-app purchases and hefty commission rates for ages, shifting a massive financial burden onto local studios, actual compensation for the aggrieved parties has been virtually nonexistent.

In response, local developers turned to a collective mediation damage compensation procedure, proposing a 20 percent refund on in-app purchase commissions paid over the last decade, alongside confidential and lump-sum payouts. Yet, Google has managed to keep mum, failing to put forward any official written proposal so far.

Abroad, however, Google has already settled up. Back in the US, a $90 million compensation fund targeting small app developers got the green light from a federal court in January 2024, and a separate antitrust lawsuit brought by 50 state attorneys general ended in a $700 million settlement. More recently in the UK, a collective lawsuit filed by app developers was settled to the tune of £260 million.

Consequently, the trio of associations has issued a firm list of demands to Google: ▲ immediately present an official written compensation plan, and ▲ have a head office official equipped with actual negotiating authority step up for direct talks and swift payouts. They also stressed to the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Communications Commission that regulatory penalties should not be mitigated under the sole pretext of developer support or policy tweaks until real compensation is actually delivered.

The associations warned that if Google drags its feet on recovery efforts, they will ramp up pressure through the October parliamentary audit, regulatory sanctions both at home and abroad, and solidarity campaigns with the press and civil society until proper restitution is made.

Hwang Sung-ik, president of the Korea Mobile Game Association, did not mince words, stating: "The discrepancy between how Google acts in countries like the US and the UK compared to South Korea is becoming increasingly glaring. The association, together with participating guilds and affected game developers, will keep fighting this corner until Google tables a concrete compensation plan and completes the actual payouts."