[2026 Parliamentary Audit] They Vowed to Grow Domestic App Marketplaces, but Criteria Still Favor Google and Apple

Rep. Kim Jaewon: "We need to improve the support criteria first."

The government has pursued a win-win agreement to grow the domestic app market, but ONE store and Galaxy Store are excluded from the criteria for recognizing a game as released under a game content support program.

Rep. Kim Jaewon asks questions during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on the 12th.

Rep. Kim Jaewon pointed this out and called for improvements during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on October 12. ONE store and Galaxy Store signed a win-win agreement with Nexon, Netmarble and NC in October 2021. However, as of September, only five Nexon games and two Netmarble games were available on ONE store, while no NC games were. Galaxy Store had just five Nexon games, one Netmarble game and one NC game. These figures include games released before the agreement.

According to the 2025 Korea Game White Paper, among 615 domestic game companies with mobile game revenue, the average share of revenue by marketplace was 70.8% for Google Play and 26.0% for the Apple App Store. ONE store, by contrast, accounted for just 2.5%.

The release criteria for government support programs are also geared toward overseas app marketplaces. The Korea Creative Content Agency's 2026 game content production support program designated only Google Play and the Apple App Store as mobile release platforms, excluding domestic app marketplaces. The early-stage entry program under Game Plus also does not recognize a game as officially released if it is launched only on a domestic app marketplace. Its performance indicators, too, focus on overseas sales and downloads. By contrast, the support criteria for PC games include Stove, a domestic platform.

Kim Yunji, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency, said, "Given their nature, support programs for overseas expansion focus on overseas platforms." She added, "We will consult with relevant organizations on recognizing releases on domestic platforms and introducing additional points for marketplace listings, with a view to incorporating them into distribution evaluation criteria."

Rep. Kim said, "We need to improve the support criteria first to broaden domestic game companies' distribution choices and ensure that cooperation with homegrown app marketplaces delivers tangible results."

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