South Korean Government takes action against play-to-earn games

The South Korean government has requested that Apple and Google remove play-to-earn (P2E) games from their servers. On December 28th, the Game Management Committee (GMC) in the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism asked marketplaces to block games that demand in-app purchases before playing. The GMC also made it impossible for play-to-earn game devs to list their apps on mobile stores as it views these as speculative money-making schemes.

Game developers have been fighting court battles to keep their P2E games in app stores since April. By going straight to app marketplaces, the government has seriously mitigated the growth of these games.

Last December 28th, the GMC stated that it is following Supreme Court precedents to block P2E games from being listed and getting age ratings. “It is reasonable to keep P2E games from getting age ratings under the current law because cash rewards in games can be considered prizes.”

The lack of ratings has blocked games such as The Fivestars for Klaytn from local app stores.

David Shin, head of Global Adoption at Klaytn Foundation, mentioned in an interview why he believes regulators have taken such a stance against P2E games.

“Play-to-earn games and crypto, in general, are viewed with apprehension due to the froth in the market that’s fueled by speculative activity. But once that froth subsides, authorities all over the world may be more amenable to regulating Web 3.0 as a permanent feature of the digital economy.”

According to DappRadar, the stance has had negative implications on all P2E gaming apps, including the two most popular games to date, Axie Infinity, and Splinterlands.

Source: The Coin Republic