"We Can't Tolerate This Treatment"... Game Companies Outraged Over Seongnam City's 12 Million Won Contest

Controversy Over Seongnam City's "Addiction Prevention" Contest
Classifying Internet Games as One of the "Four Major Addictions"
Game Industry Association and Game Developers Association Push Back

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There has been a wave of criticism after Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province, where many game companies are concentrated, and its affiliated agency launched a contest that classifies games as one of the "four major addictions" alongside alcohol, drugs, and gambling. The gaming industry has called for the contest to be canceled and for an official apology, but Seongnam City has pressed ahead with the event after making only minor changes to the wording.

According to the industry on June 18, the Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center (the Support Center) launched the "Addiction Prevention Content Production Contest Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)" earlier this month. The contest theme explicitly included the prevention of the "four major addictions": alcohol, drugs, gambling, and internet games. The contest is hosted by Seongnam City and organized by the Support Center, with a total prize pool of 12 million won.

The term "four major addictions" was first introduced in 2013 during the Park Geun-hye administration, when Shin Eui-jin, a lawmaker from the Saenuri Party, proposed the "Act on the Prevention, Management, and Treatment of Addictions." At the time, Shin argued that games should be classified as one of the four major addictive substances, along with alcohol, gambling, and drugs, and that government management and control should be strengthened.

Guidelines for the "Addiction Prevention Content Production Contest Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)" that classifies gaming as one of the four major addictions. Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center

The gaming industry has repeatedly criticized Seongnam City, known as the "Mecca of the Korean gaming industry," for reviving this outdated classification and attempting to equate games with addictive substances like drugs. The area around Pangyo Station in Seongnam is home to major domestic game companies and related businesses, including Nexon, NCSoft, Kakao Games, Smilegate, Wemade, and Webzen. Namkoong Hoon, co-chairman of the Game Foundation and former CEO of Kakao Games and Kakao, wrote on social media on June 14, "There are officials in Seongnam, where game companies are concentrated, who have this anachronistic idea of labeling games as one of the four major addictions. The Game Foundation has recently worked closely with Seongnam City, supporting local youth with 100 million won and collaborating on various events, but I think it's time to reconsider this relationship."

On the same day, eight gaming organizations?including the Game Culture Foundation, Game Foundation, Korea Game Developers Association, Korea Game Law and Policy Society, Korea Association of Game Industry, Korea Game Policy Society, Korea Indie Game Association, and Korea e-Sports Association?issued a joint statement. They demanded a complete cancellation or a thorough review of the contest, including the removal of the internet from the theme, as well as an official apology from those responsible and a promise to prevent a recurrence. The organizations stated, "Attempts to tarnish and undermine the gaming industry persist, which is deeply regrettable and extremely concerning. Seongnam City is the center of the domestic gaming industry ecosystem, with about 44,000 industry workers, and games account for 77% of the city's total content industry exports."

Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center reposted the poster on the 18th, revising the contest theme of the "Addiction Prevention Content Production Contest Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)" from "Internet Game Addiction Prevention" to "Internet Addiction Prevention." Seongnam City Integrated Addiction Management Support Center

However, Seongnam City decided to proceed with the event after changing the problematic contest theme from "internet games" to "internet." In a press release the previous day, Seongnam City explained, "The 2025 'Mental Health Project Guide' from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, distributed by Gyeonggi Province, specifies alcohol, drugs, gambling, and internet games as types of addiction, and we reflected this directly in selecting the contest theme. However, since there were interpretations of certain terms that differed from the facts, we revised the wording to clarify our intentions."

The gaming industry still finds this explanation unconvincing. Lee Chulwoo, a gaming attorney and president of the Korea Game Users Association, said, "It is especially disappointing because Seongnam is the mecca of Korea's gaming industry and home to major game companies. The fact that this happened even though the 'Act on the Improvement of Mental Health and Support for Welfare Services for Persons with Mental Disorders (Mental Health Welfare Act)' does not mention 'games' is also an issue with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's arbitrary interpretation of the law." The Mental Health Welfare Act specifies that Integrated Addiction Management Support Centers are to carry out support projects related to alcohol, drugs, gambling, and the internet.