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Court tosses class-action against Samsung alleging performance throttling in Galaxy S22

Published: 12 Jun. 2025, 14:46 Updated: 12 Jun. 2025, 20:16

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S22 smartphones sold at a Samsung Electronics store in southern Seoul on March 8, 2022 [YONHAP]

A Seoul court ruled against Galaxy S22 smartphone users who filed a class-action lawsuit against Samsung Electronics, claiming the company deliberately limited gaming performance without a disclosure.

The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled against 1,882 Galaxy S22 users who demanded 300,000 won ($221) each in damages. All claims were dismissed and the plaintiffs were ordered to pay all litigation costs.

The case stemmed from the Game Optimizing Service (GOS), a software program that became mandatory starting with the Galaxy S22 series. GOS reduces the frame rate and response speed when high-performance games are run in order to prevent overheating. While this improves device stability, it can reduce user immersion during gameplay. Samsung first introduced GOS in the Galaxy S7 series in 2016.

When it launched the Galaxy S22 in 2022, Samsung made GOS mandatory — unlike with previous devices, users could no longer disable it using paid workaround apps. This led to controversy over performance degradation, and some users filed a lawsuit claiming that Samsung “concealed the existence of the GOS program” and “marketed the device as if high-performance gaming would be possible."

After three years and four months of proceedings, the court ruled in Samsung’s favor. It acknowledged that the company engaged in misleading advertising.

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S22 smartphones [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S22 advertisement in Seoul on Feb. 14, 2022 [YONHAP]

“Samsung ran ads that could lead consumers to wrongly believe they could enjoy the highest speeds without limits, even though speeds were artificially lowered for certain high-end games,” the court said.

However, it found no evidence that users suffered damages.

“The plaintiffs bear the burden of proving not only that their smartphones included GOS, but also that they actually used high-performance apps affected by the GOS policy. They failed to submit any objective evidence of this,” the ruling continued.

The plaintiffs also argued that Samsung violated the Framework Act on Consumers by not disclosing the existence of GOS to all potential buyers, but this was not accepted.

“GOS only activates when running specific high-performance game apps and has no effect on overall device performance,” the court said. “The proportion of consumers affected is extremely small, so the presence of GOS does not constitute information that would significantly influence purchase decisions.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHOI SEO-IN [[email protected]]