Korea Directs Apple and Google to Remove P2E Games

According to reports, the South Korean government has taken steps to prevent the access to recent play-to-earn (P2E) games and has demanded that prevailing P2E games be taken down from Apple’s App Store and Google Play. In the crypto sector, peer-to-peer gaming continues to rise in popularity. South Korea, on the other hand, prohibits awarding of gambling rewards of more than a few dollars.

On Tuesday, the Game Management Committee (GMC), which functions under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism demanded that top mobile application marketplaces restrict any games that necessitate in-app payments before being able to partake in the game.

It has become almost hard for P2E game creators to have their title’s published on the several prominent mobile app stores due to GMC’s efforts to nullify the growth as the regulatory organisation considers the model as speculative money-earning methods.

The government’s attempt to slow the spread of P2E games by directing them to app markets is a recent phenomenon; nevertheless, game producers in South Korea have been desperately trying to retain their P2E games available for purchase in local app shops since April. The most serious issue was that certain gaming applications were unable to secure the age rating necessary for inclusion in app stores due to technical difficulties.

According to a representative of the GMC, the commission is just upholding Supreme Court ruling in denying P2E games the ability to obtain age ratings and be sold on the market. A government official stated December 28 that “it is appropriate to prohibit P2E games from receiving age ratings as per the existing legislation since financial incentives in games might be deemed prize money.”

Prizes won by playing games gaming in South Korea are limited to a total of 10,000 KRW ($8.42) in value at any one time. The Five star rating for Klaytn P2E game and non-fungible token (NFT) platform was originally barred in local app stores due to the absence of a rating, but the company behind the title was successful in getting the game published after winning an appeal in June.

A final verdict on the title’s legal status is likely to establish a legal standard for other player-versus-environment games, including Infinite Breakthrough Three Kingdoms Reverse, in the future. Because of the GMC’s position, all P2E gaming applications, including the package of apps linked with the two prominent games in recent years, as per DappRadar: Axie Infinity and Splinterlands, are at risk of being taken down from the App Store.