Samsung fined 15.1 million in South Korea over gaming claims

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission has fined Samsung 20 billion won, about $15.1 million, for misleading marketing of its Galaxy S21, S22 and Tab S8 devices.

The commission said Samsung's marketing claimed the devices delivered "the ultimate mobile gaming experience," but the built-in Game Optimizing Service throttled the CPU and GPU during demanding games, causing lag, freezes and lower graphics quality.

Samsung says the Game Optimizing Service is a safety feature that keeps the devices at safe temperatures, and it will appeal the fine. In March 2022 it pushed an update that lets users remove the limits the service imposes.

The update lets users remove those limits. Samsung says the feature was meant to prevent overheating. The FTC argues that the lack of disclosure misled consumers.