South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) says it has decided to impose a tentative fine of 20 billion won (about $15.1 million) on Samsung Electronics for allegedly misleading consumers with gaming-related smartphone advertisements.
The FTC’s decision focuses on Samsung’s Galaxy S21 and S22 smartphone lines released in 2021 and 2022, and the Galaxy Tab S8 tablet series launched in 2022. The watchdog says Samsung did not disclose that its game optimizing service (GOS) applies preset performance limits when certain demanding gaming applications start, even if the conditions on the device would otherwise permit higher performance. It describes GOS as a heat-management system and says Samsung promoted the devices’ advanced gaming capabilities without clearly revealing these caps. The FTC adds that the limitations can lead to freezing, lag, or reduced graphics quality during gameplay.
Across outlets, the main emphasis is the FTC’s proposed fine and the alleged omission of information about GOS’s performance caps. Yonhap and Korea Times both describe the same product scope and the regulator’s rationale, with Yonhap presenting the development in a standard wire style and Korea Times giving additional context about how the caps operate.
