The government of South Korea requested to block the release of new play to earn (P2E) games and asked Google and Apple to remove existing ones from Google Play and the App Store, CoinTelegraph reported.
Korean govt bans prizes over a few dollars
P2E gaming is quite popular with cryptocurrency proponents. Usually, gamers buy game pieces as NFTs to play a game and receive in-game rewards. However, gaming prizes in South Korea cannot exceed 10,000 KRW ($8.42) at a time.
Yesterday, the country’s Game Management Committee (GMC) asked all major mobile app marketplaces to block games requiring in-app purchases prior to playing the game. The GMC is part of the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
The GMC has made it very difficult, if not impossible for P2E game developers to get their work listed on the most popular mobile app stores in order to combat the proliferation of what it sees as speculative money-making schemes.
Korean game developers facing court battles for months
This is the first time the government has attempted to curb P2E game growth by going straight to the app marketplaces. However, game developers in the Asian country have been fighting in court since April to keep their P2E games available for sale in app stores. The main issue was that not all game apps could get the age rating required to be listed.
An official from the GMC said in a statement released yesterday:
It is reasonable to keep P2E games from getting age ratings under the current law because cash rewards in games can be considered prizes.
A popular marketplace for P2E games and NFTs, Fivestars for Klaytn, experienced this exact thing. It was blocked in domestic app stores because it didn’t have a rating. Ultimately, the game was listed after the developer team won an injunction in June. David Shin of the Klaytn Foundation commented on why he believes regulators are cracking down on 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.
The government’s stance has negative consequences on all P2E gaming apps, including those connected to Axie Infinity and Splinterlands, two of the most popular games in history.
