One Store to Sue Google... "Entry Obstruction Continued Until Recently"

"Obstruction of Store Entry Continues Even After Google Fair Trade Commission Investigation Begins"

Native app market operator One Store is filing a lawsuit against global big tech company Google. With the Fair Trade Commission's investigation clearly showing damages caused by Google's obstruction of business, One Store is determined to secure appropriate compensation.

On the 13th, an industry insider familiar with One Store's internal affairs stated, "Immediately after the Fair Trade Commission announced the imposition of fines, One Store began reviewing a lawsuit to claim damages against Google," adding, "They believe the period of damage was much longer than initially announced by the Fair Trade Commission and are seeking to expand the scope of compensation."

Earlier, on the 11th, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of 42.1 billion KRW on Google for blocking the release of games on the competing app market (One Store) by mobile game companies.

The Fair Trade Commission's investigation revealed that Google offered mobile game companies app market featuring and overseas expansion support on the condition that they do not release games on One Store. Featuring refers to placing an app in the most visible spot when consumers open the app market.

Domestic mobile game companies have recognized that support such as Google's overseas featuring is crucial for successful overseas expansion. Google exploited this situation by actively offering benefits that could be enjoyed if the same games were not released on One Store.

In particular, aware of the potential violation of the Fair Trade Act, Google conveyed exclusive release conditions to game companies in the most discreet manner possible. Google even requested the deletion of related emails within the company and encouraged offline discussions to avoid leaving evidence.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The period during which Google abused its market-dominant position was from June 2016, when One Store was launched, until April 2018, when the Fair Trade Commission's investigation took place. However, the industry believes that Google's obstruction of entry continued even after 2018.

As evidence, they point to the 'Win-Win Agreement for Revitalizing the Domestic App Market' signed in October 2021, which has not been well adhered to. At that time, leading domestic game companies such as Nexon, Netmarble, and NCSoft participated, but as of over a year after the agreement, only four new partner game apps have been launched on One Store. Since Nexon's 'Civilization: Reign of Power' was launched in November last year, there has been no news of new entries for nearly half a year.

An industry official said, "Google claims there have been no obstruction acts since the Fair Trade Commission began its investigation in 2018, but Google has continued direct and indirect pressure through featuring and other means," adding, "Game companies, which cannot ignore sales, have been reluctant to enter One Store out of caution toward Google."

Meanwhile, Google is reportedly preparing an administrative lawsuit to contest the Fair Trade Commission's decision. A Google representative said, "We have done our best to explain Google's position that there was no violation of the law. We regret the Fair Trade Commission's conclusion," adding, "Once we receive the written decision from the Fair Trade Commission, we will carefully review it and decide on future responses." However, the chances of winning are not expected to be high. Previously, in 2021, Google filed a lawsuit to cancel the refusal of inspection and copying related to the Fair Trade Commission's investigation, but the Supreme Court confirmed its loss last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.