Samsung Electronics to Challenge 20 Billion Won Fine over GOS Ads, Take Legal Action

"Complaints withdrawn... difficult to accept"
Jipyong: "Optimal for heat management and sustaining performance"

Samsung Electronics has decided to take legal action after objecting to a provisional fine of 20 billion won imposed by the Fair Trade Commission over allegations of misleading advertising related to its Game Optimizing Service (GOS) for Galaxy smartphones.

Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. 2026.07.07 Photo by Yoon Dongju

In a statement issued on October 27, Samsung Electronics said, "We find it difficult to accept this decision, given that all domestic and overseas lawsuits have concluded and the complaints filed with the Fair Trade Commission by the participants in the lawsuits have been withdrawn. We will actively present the company's position through future legal proceedings." Samsung said GOS is a feature designed to optimize the gaming experience and that no overseas competition authority has taken action against it or deemed it misleading advertising.

Jipyong, Samsung Electronics' legal representative, also disputed the Fair Trade Commission's decision. Jipyong stressed that "managing heat and sustaining performance are common challenges faced by all smart device manufacturers, and GOS is the result of Samsung Electronics' efforts to address them." It added, "It is difficult to accept the conclusion that the feature, which adjusts device operation to provide the best user experience, constitutes deceptive advertising simply because the specific way it works to optimize performance was not included in the advertising."

Jipyong also noted that the Fair Trade Commission pointed only to the percentage by which the maximum operating speed of the application processor (AP), the device's core chip, was limited, without demonstrating how this setting affected actual gameplay, including frames per second. It said that, when measured by frame rate and stability, Galaxy devices can deliver better gaming performance through GOS's customized optimization settings, and can maintain at least comparable gaming performance for longer at lower temperatures.

Samsung Electronics made GOS mandatory when it launched the Galaxy S21 and S22 series and the Galaxy Tab S8 series between January 2021 and March 2022. After controversy arose over claims that GOS artificially limited device performance, Samsung Electronics lifted the restrictions on the maximum operating speeds of the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) through a software update in March 2022.

Consumers filed lawsuits seeking damages, alleging that they had been harmed because Samsung Electronics advertised its devices as delivering peak performance without disclosing that GOS reduced their performance. However, all eight lawsuits in South Korea, the United States, and Israel had concluded before the Fair Trade Commission's action, and the complaints filed with the commission had also been withdrawn.

The district court hearing the first-instance domestic case found that Samsung Electronics had engaged in deceptive labeling and advertising but did not hold the company liable for damages. The Seoul High Court, hearing the appeal, concluded the case through a court-recommended settlement in February this year. None of the approximately 1,700 plaintiffs objected, and the decision became final in March.

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