[The Editors' Verdict] Consistent Principles and Philosophy Are Needed for Game Regulation

President Moon Jae-in pledged during his 2017 candidacy to prioritize self-regulation regarding game regulations in a meeting with the gaming industry. Accordingly, in the second half of 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism formed the ‘Game Regulation Improvement Council,’ and I served as the chairperson of this council, witnessing the process over about six months in which various discussions and policy improvement measures on game regulation were derived. As a result of the council’s discussions, in March 2018, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Korea Game Industry Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to foster a healthy gaming culture, develop the game ecosystem, and protect youth.

According to Article 2 of the memorandum, cooperation is to be provided to establish self-regulation within the game industry, and when formulating policies related to game regulations, the implementation status of the game industry’s self-regulation must be considered. Furthermore, the Korea Game Industry Association is tasked with preparing and executing specific plans to ensure the effectiveness of self-regulation on probability-type items and to faithfully implement self-regulation so that the public can use games healthily. To implement the agreement between the Korea Game Industry Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Game Policy Self-Regulation Organization, an independent monitoring body for probability-type item self-regulation and the first self-regulatory organization in the gaming sector, was launched in November 2018 to strengthen the existing self-regulation measures. It has been operating since then. From this December, expanded and strengthened self-regulations are expected to be applied.

However, in December of last year, a full revision bill of the Game Industry Promotion Act was proposed to the National Assembly. The current Game Industry Promotion Act, enacted in 2006, was criticized for failing to properly reflect the rapidly changing gaming environment, containing many regulations that are ambiguous or not suited to reality, and lacking clear support measures for promoting the game industry. The proposed revision aims to actively respond to changes in game culture and industry, strengthen protection for game users, and improve unreasonable systems to create a healthy game ecosystem. The problem is that the revision bill includes provisions to convert the disclosure of probability information for probability-type items, which is currently subject to self-regulation, into a legal regulation.

Although the full revision bill was introduced in the form of a member’s bill, it is essentially government legislation. This means the government first broke its promise to prioritize self-regulation for probability-type items, violating the 2018 agreement between the government and the market sector. If self-regulation for probability-type items is truly ineffective and must be converted into legal regulation, the government should have seriously discussed this with the market sector, its policy partner, and presented objective and scientific evidence supporting the necessity of legal regulation during the discussions. So far, the process of serious discussion with the game industry on this issue has been omitted, and no objective or scientific evidence has been provided to justify the need for legal regulation of probability-type items. Such inconsistent game regulation policies stem directly from the absence of principles and philosophy regarding game regulation.

In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the New Normal, the Korean New Deal, and a Green Society, the current government has presented various blueprints for Korea’s future. No one can deny the prediction or expectation that the game industry will play a pivotal role in these new eras or societies. A new era or society does not simply arrive through slogans or words alone. To prepare for a new era or society, especially the government needs a change in perception and approach toward game regulation. Moreover, to prepare for such an era or society, consistent principles and philosophy regarding game regulation are essential.

Hwang Seong-gi, Professor, Hanyang University School of Law