Starting in June 2024, Google will start supporting real-money gambling apps in more countries, such as Brazil, Mexico, and India. Additional rollouts for more nations are scheduled for the near future.

To guarantee user safety and adherence to regional laws, the corporation will keep enforcing age- and geo-gating. The risks associated with real-money gaming should not be disregarded, even though the development community may become more competitive as support for gambling apps grows.

Mobile games can be entertaining when there’s no real money involved, but they can also become much more than that. Since gambling of any kind has the potential to become addictive, many governments have laws in place to control it. Nevertheless, regional variations exist in these restrictions, and not all nations possess laws that prohibit gambling, even when it takes the shape of a mobile application. Google is now relaxing its Play Store guidelines to allow for what it refers to as “real-money games,” or applications for games that use real money.

Google said in an update on the Android Developers Blog that starting in June 2024, it will extend support for specific categories of gambling apps. The company previously ran a test programme in Mexico and India that permitted specific real-money games and applications. For example, rummy apps were permitted in India and daily fantasy sports gambling apps were permitted in both countries.

Google plans to expand this programme shortly to include operators and game kinds not covered by a current licensing scheme. This change will initially only affect users in Brazil, Mexico, and India. Google states that it intends to add support for other nations soon. The company states that the current measures in place to support user safety will continue to be in force. This implies that geo-gating (limiting apps to certain regions) and age-gating (ensuring that only adults can access gambling apps) will still be necessary to accomplish that.

Although the world of online gaming may resemble the Wild West, Google’s policy updates contain a lot of fine print. Similar improvements from the corporation in 2021 paved the way for further gambling apps in the US. Nevertheless, depending on the area, there were rules that both developers and players had to follow. For example, only New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada (for poker only), and Delaware allowed the use of online casino apps. Only a few states, namely West Virginia, Tennessee, and Rhode Island, were allowed to provide sports betting. All independent app publishers also have to follow local rules and obtain the necessary licenses. In 2017, the UK, Ireland, and France became the first nations to reduce the restrictions on gambling apps; however, the US had a delayed rollout.

Having said that, based on the ongoing growth of this support, it appears that Google still thinks it’s worth reading the fine print. Although it is unclear how this would affect the developer community, it is not impossible to envision a rise in competition. There is no doubt that the Play Store’s increased selection of apps will be beneficial to gamers. Many would counter that it is important to consider the real-world risks associated with gambling, even when it occurs on a mobile device.

SOURCE: https://www.androidpolice.com/google-gambling-play-store-apps/