Taiwan hearings push eSports law as Google Play sets 10% fee

Google Play will charge a 10% commission in Taiwan starting in 2027, and that smaller store cut lands as the Legislative Yuan pushed ahead with a public hearing on the draft eSports Development Basic Act on June 10. For mobile publishers running live-service titles, that combination matters because it can change how much money is left for prize pools, launch campaigns, tournament support, and player rewards.

The hearing brought industry representatives and civil groups to the table as they argued Taiwan needs to catch up with international eSports policy. Their case was sharpened by the fact that eSports is now an official Asian Games event and was also a focus around the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games. Speakers said Taiwan still needs major upgrades in national-team training systems and in the wider industrial strategy that supports competitive play.

The policy push has been building for years. On April 2, 2024, Legislative Yuan Deputy Secretary-General Chang Yu-jung attended the inauguration of the Taiwan Association for Promoting Cooperation and Exchanges in ACG and Esports Industry Policies, a sign that ACG and eSports had already moved onto the political radar. In June 2026, Sports Minister Lee Yang said the government had been too slow on e-sports development and needed to fix legal shortcomings while legislation was still being drafted.

Google is moving on a separate track but in the same market. On April 22, 2026, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs approved two Google investment applications totaling NT$27 billion, or US$857 million, for expanded data processing and semiconductor-related businesses. At the same time, Google has been rolling out broader Play developer policy changes on commissions and alternative billing, putting Taiwan’s 10% rate into a wider global shift.

The mobile charts show why the timing matters. Lineage Classic climbed in Taiwan after its first Siege War, while SD Gundam G Generation Eternal topped the mobile rankings in Taiwan. The game has already crossed US$100 million in player spending in two months and peaked at US$3.5 million in daily player spending, the kind of scale where even a few percentage points on fees can affect how much gets recycled into events, support, and in-game content.

For Taiwan’s mobile competitive scene, the new fee and the eSports bill are not separate stories. They are the same money question, one playing out in the app store and the other in the rulebook.