Google is trying to prove that it benefits local developers and gamers.
Google’s appeal against a record $12.4 million Indonesian antitrust fine saw the tech giant present testimony again from a local app developer that it said was “not taken into account” in the competition regulator’s verdict.
At the hearing on Thursday, April 10, at the Commercial Court, Google’s lawyers presented Wesley Yiu, CEO and founder of Noctua Games, to demonstrate that its presence in the country has benefited local developers and gamers and that its app-store policies are not anticompetitive.
Google is attempting to overturn the Jan. 21 decision of the Indonesia Competition Commission, or KPPU, which found it guilty of monopolistic behavior by requiring app developers to use its in-app billing system to remain in the Google Play Store.
Wesley, who also testified for Google during the KPPU hearings last September, told the court that the requirement to use the Google Play Billing system was already part of the developer distribution agreement the company signed when it registered with Google Play Store to distribute its games.
According to the developer agreement, the company pays Google a service fee of 15 percent for the first $1 million in revenue and a service fee of 30 percent for amounts above that.
Noctua, however, only signed with Google in 2022, the year the alleged infringement began. The KPPU decision acknowledged Google’s right to charge a fee for its app-store services but criticized how it did not enforce this policy until 2022, when developers were already too dependent on the Google Play Store and could not afford to leave.
When asked why Noctua chose to distribute on the Google Play Store, Wesley said it was to reach a wider audience, not only in Indonesia but also in Southeast Asia and the global market.
He said that in terms of game distribution volume in the Southeast Asia region, around 60-70 percent of its games were distributed through Google Play Store, with the remaining 30 percent through other stores and the company’s own website.
Noctua also participates in Google’s academy, which is dedicated to assisting local developers.
The next hearing is scheduled for April 17, with more witnesses from Google. The appeal hearings are expected to last between three to 12 months.
Source: MLex
