Google today said it has globally paused an experiment aimed at allowing new types of real-money games on its Play Store, citing challenges in some regions caused by the lack of a central authority to approve such apps.
The company said in January that it would begin broadly allowing real-money apps in India, Brazil and Mexico in June. Notably, pilot programs for fantasy sports and rummy apps are running in India from 2022 and Mexico from November 2023.
The company said that apps that were part of the pilot program will continue to be allowed to continue operating on the Indian Play Store.
“Expanding support for real-money gaming apps in markets without a central licensing framework has proven more challenging than we expected, and we need more time to do the right thing for the safety of our developer partners and users. Google Play remains committed to helping all developers build new businesses responsibly and reach broader audiences across content types and genres,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
The company added that it wants to support real-money games on the Play Store but is still exploring the right framework for doing so. Google also said it is still working out how it will charge its new service for these types of games and needs more time to finalize the details.
Google specifically mentioned the Indian market, saying there is no central licensing framework that specifies what games are allowed in the country, suggesting the company doesn't want to tread into risky regulatory territory. And last year, India's IT ministry suspended the creation of a self-regulatory body for the gaming industry that could set rules on real-money gaming.