Home

Phones

News

Four years after Galaxy owners uncovered hidden gaming limits, Samsung faces a major penalty over performance claims it says weren’t deceptive

Digital Trends

Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS , has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22 , and Tab S8.

The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.

What GOS actually did

Phones routinely slow down when they get hot. The FTC says GOS went further by applying preset ceilings as soon as certain games launched, regardless of the device’s temperature.…