South Korean authorities have told Apple and Google that Play to Earn, a game rule for making money by playing games, cannot meet the country’s relevant regulatory requirements. As South Korea continues to implement new app store laws, it has now separately required two leading platforms to block P2E game applications.
The Game Management Committee (GMC) of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of South Korea stated that it is following the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence. P2E games usually require players to purchase game fragments in the form of unforgeable tokens. Then they may get rewards in the game.
These games are very popular in the cryptocurrency industry, and according to the trade publication Coin Telegraph, this new move is a strengthening of the national position. Previously, GMC tried to prevent P2E games from obtaining an age rating. In South Korea, games need to have an age rating to be allowed to enter the app store.
According to the current law, it is reasonable not to allow P2E games to receive an age rating, GMC said in an official statement seen by the Coin Telegraph, because cash prizes in games can be considered prizes. According to South Korea By law, a player can win up to $8.42 each time.
The country’s measures to prevent such apps from obtaining age ratings have not worked. An unknown number of games have received the required ratings, including Fivestars for Klatyn. The game was initially prevented from obtaining an age rating, but the developer won a ban on the order.
Now, GMC is trying to prevent this precedent, instead of asking Apple and Google to block any games that require in-app purchases to play. This opposition to certain games and previous tools to prevent age ratings are far from new in South Korea. Before the launch of the iPhone 4S in 2011, South Korea had completely banned App Store games due to so-called rating issues.