South Korean laws require game companies to disclose loot box probabilities. And a local governmental organization has now found that hundreds of titles are violating the rules.
MapleStory
Several amendments to the South Korean Game Industry Promotion Act came into force on March 22, requiring all game companies (domestic and foreign) to disclose probabilities of obtaining rewards from loot boxes on the in-game purchase screen.
According to GameMeca, the country’s Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) has monitored 1,255 cases since March 22. The organization found a total of 266 games that violated the rules, 60% of which were foreign.
Developers of 185 titles have already corrected the violations. Others face a fine of up to ₩20 million ($14.4k) or imprisonment for up to two years if they fail to comply with the government’s request.
According to the GRAC, five foreign games could be banned from distribution in South Korea if their makers don’t follow the correction requirement.
It is unclear which companies were caught breaking the rules. Earlier this year, the country’s Fair Trade Commission investigated possible violations by Krafton (PUBG) and Com2uS (Summoners War). In March, South Korea also fined Nexon ₩11.6 billion ($8.3 million) for deceiving its customers by changing drop rates in MapleStory, but it was before the new amendments came into force.
During its monitoring, the GRAC pays attention to:
- Top games in the highest-grossing and most downloaded charts to check whether they disclose probability according to the law;
- Customer complaints and media reports;
- Already investigated games to see whether new items and loot boxes added to them comply with the rules.
It is also worth noting that the Game Industry Promotion Act doesn’t apply to certain games, including those for educational and testing purposes, as well as arcade games and products from companies with annual revenues of less than ₩100 million in the last three years.