Happy New Year everyone! Just three hours into 2025, I received an email from Google Play Support with the following subject line:
Action Required: Your app is not compliant with Google Play Policies (Luck be a Landlord)
Nothing has changed with Luck be a Landlord in the past few months,
Fuck it, let’s just ban any and every app that involves or simulates currency and uses chance as a mechanic that interacts with that currency.
Tokens that can be redeemed for a chance of a cosmetic reward? Gambling.
Credits used to pay for upkeep of an LLM that may or may not generate an expected output? Also gambling.
Subscription for a service that promises XYZ and delivers less than 100% during its service period? Believe it or not, gambling.
No no, we just ban casino themed roguelites, that’ll do.
But you know, actual gatcha and lootboxes? Totally fine.
It’s only gambling when you play with fake money and don’t actually earn or lose anything.