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On December 15, 2025, Google made changes to the Google Play Console policy regarding the verification of developer accounts and the publication of gambling applications (RMG) in the CIS region. The new protocols require console owners to undergo extended biometric identification and confirm the presence of a physical office in the country of registration. This measure is aimed at combating account farms and is designed to reduce the volume of unlicensed iGaming content in the store by 35% by mid-2026.
Update Details: What technical requirements have entered into force?
The update affected the "Identity Verification" and "Financial Services" sections in the developer console. According to Google's documentation, now in order to publish iGaming applications in countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, you must provide a local license at the draft creation stage. Automated moderation systems have started using neural network filters to analyze the source code for hidden WebView instructions.
The main technical changes include:
- Two-factor verification via bank ID: Payment of the $25 fee is now accepted only from cards issued in the country of account registration.
- Mandatory external testing: The application testing period has been extended to 21 days with at least 30 unique Android devices.
- Checking the SDK: It is prohibited to use third-party SDKs for content substitution (cloaking) that have not passed Google SafetyNet certification.
Fact Box: Key figures for the Dec 2025 update
- The moderation period for RMG applications: up to 14 business days
- The required age of the domain to communicate with the console: from 6 months
- Bounce rate for new accounts in the CIS: more than 45%
Reactions and comments: What do market experts say?
The expert community of arbitrators and software developers took the innovations as a signal for the final professionalization of the market. According to the statement of the technical director of the AppSolutions agency, Google's current filters make it impossible to massively flood applications through automated console generation services. Now the focus is shifting to the quality of the account's "warm-up" and the legitimacy of the legal entity.
"Google is systematically destroying the market for renting one-day accounts. We can see that the cost of a high-quality console with a history increased by 60% in December 2025, reaching $850 per unit. For experts, this means switching to working with long-lived WhiteLabel solutions," he comments Artyom Rodionov, Lead Developer at GamblingTech.
Context and background: Why is Google tightening its filters?
The events of December 2025 were a continuation of the "Safe Play" initiative launched by Google in early 2024. Earlier, in March 2025, the company introduced mandatory verification of the physical address through a postal confirmation (PIN) for all new developers from Tier-3 countries. However, the growth of the shadow segment of iGaming, which uses WebView to bypass moderation, forced the tech giant to introduce stricter transaction control mechanisms.
The table below shows the dynamics of Google's stricter rules for iGaming over the past 2 years.:
| Period | Key change | Influence on experts |
|---|---|---|
| January 2024 | Introduction of 20 testers | Increase the launch time by 14 days |
| March 2025 | Required PIN by mail | Account price increase by 25% |
| December 2025 | Biometrics and bank ID | Blocking 40% of console farms |
Consequences and forecasts: How will iGaming Arbitration change?
Analysts predict that the market will finally split into two segments in the first quarter of 2026. The first is large media buying agencies with their own development departments that will invest in buying real companies in the CIS to register consoles. The second is solo arbitrators, who will be forced to switch to working with PWA applications, completely ignoring the Google Play Console due to the high entry threshold.
The following trends are expected to be implemented:
- The era of "Old Trust" accounts: Consoles registered before 2023 will become the main asset in the resale market.
- Hybrid WebViews: Development of applications that carry real value (calculators, reference books) in order to reduce the risk of detecting the gambling component.
- Localization of moderation: Google plans to hire more than 500 specialists with knowledge of CIS languages for manual verification of iGaming products in 2026.
Publication date: 2025-12-18T10:00:00+03:00. Links to primary sources: Google Play Policy Center (Update Dec 2025), Android Developers Blog.
