Google Play appears to be region-locking their payment system, as users are reporting their inability to make purchases for games only released in Japan. Considering a large number of anime style games or popular anime franchise IP mobile games are typically Japan-only releases, this would certainly be concerning to those who choose to spend.

The restriction appears to be more widespread now, as this issue has previously surfaced before. As this reddit post shares, Google Play isn’t simply restricting “Japan Only” games exclusively. The region lock applies to all games that are not currently available in your account’s region. For those determined to spend anyway, the workarounds seem to be either having an account in the relevant region, or good old VPN.

It’s likely the restrictions are to combat fraud, as Steam has similar regional limitations when purchasing games on the platform. Games have regional pricings, and as such, can have much lower prices in certain areas. The restrictions are to ensure the system doesn’t get abused, with use of VPN against the platform’s terms of service.

Just as an example, here’s a notice from Apple in 2019 about lowering the price of purchases in Egypt at that point in time, to reflect the changes in tax and / or foreign exchange rates. It’s understood these changes to take time to implement, like how Love Live! School Idol Festival underwent maintenance to update prices to match iOS prices.

People would love to be able to support their favourite games financially with minor inconvenience. Disgruntled players are basically accusing Google of taking the least effort possible to solve a problem “they caused in the first place”.

In an ideal world, games would be published worldwide simultaneously, but the money required to do so may not be an investment either publisher or developer can afford even if they’re willing.

How much these restrictions will affect sales of these non-worldwide releases will have to be seen. One would assume the titles do well enough domestically to not be shut down, but without full disclosure on international sales numbers, or knowing how abruptly it could shift the market, it’s something to keep an eye on.