South Korea's Antitrust Authority Charges Google with Abusing Android App Store Market Dominance
Miles Bennett
South Korea's KFTC accused Google of using Project Hug to buy game developers' exclusive loyalty to the Play Store, citing $9.1 billion in related revenue and a potential fine of up to 6% of that figure. This means Seoul is mounting one of its most forceful antitrust actions yet against a major tech platform.
Why is South Korea targeting Google?
The Korea Fair Trade Commission's market surveillance bureau released a review report Wednesday, accusing Alphabet of abusing its dominant position in the Android app store market and obstructing competition.
The KFTC will recommend corrective measures and a fine. Related revenue under review totals ₩14.16 trillion (roughly $9.1 billion).
This means → if the finding stands, Google faces a maximum penalty of roughly $546 million (6% of $9.1 billion) — one of the largest tech-platform fines South Korea has ever imposed.
What exactly did Project Hug do?
From July 2019 to March 2026, Google ran a program internally code-named Project Hug — the "Games / Google Acceleration Program" — offering domestic and international game developers financial support through cloud services, advertising, and YouTube resources.
The catch: developers had to launch games on Google Play on terms no worse than those offered to rival app stores.
In plain terms = Google paid developers to stay close, but only if they didn't give another store a head start or a better deal.
Why does this mechanism tighten over time?
The contracts included a progressive incentive structure: the more revenue a developer generated through Google Play, the more financial support it received.
This means → once a developer entered the loop, diverting traffic to a competing platform became progressively harder — the more revenue concentrated on Google, the larger the subsidy, and the higher the cost of leaving.
The KFTC found that competitors — including South Korea's homegrown platform OneStore — were significantly hindered, and developers were effectively forced into de facto exclusive dealing with Google.
What happens next?
Google has eight weeks from receiving the report to submit a written response and review the evidence.
The KFTC said it will convene a full commission meeting and reach a final decision promptly once Google's due-process rights have been fully protected.
This reflects a sustained escalation in South Korean enforcement against exclusionary conduct by major tech platforms — and the outcome will serve as a key reference point for antitrust regulators globally.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.