Samsung fined in South Korea over Galaxy S21 and S22 gaming-performance marketing

GSMArena reports that the Korean Fair Trade Commission brought a case against Samsung over misleading marketing for the Galaxy S21 series, Galaxy S22 series, and Galaxy Tab S8 series, and that a court decided to fine the company. The article says the issue centered on a claim that the devices deliver "the ultimate mobile gaming experience" without disclosing that Samsung's Game Optimizing Service (GOS) throttles CPU and GPU performance in demanding games.

According to GSMArena, the throttling led to freezes, lags, and lower graphics quality, and the FTC said Samsung engaged in deceptive marketing by hiding preset limits. The article states Samsung introduced an update allowing users to remove the GOS-imposed limits and argued the feature is intended to ensure stable gameplay during long gaming sessions.

GSMArena reports Samsung will appeal and believes it did nothing wrong, noting that the GOS update was pushed shortly after release in March 2022 and that other domestic and international lawsuits over GOS have concluded or been withdrawn. The article does not state the fine amount or an effective date.