South Korea Orders Mobile Crypto Games Be Removed On Mobile (2024)

Posted in: Games, Mobile Games | Tagged: blockchain, Crypto, cryptocurrency, Mobile, nft, South Korea

The South Korean government is taking a firm stance on mobile games involving play-to-earn crypto with an order to Apple and Google. The latest trend in mobile that's slowly becoming extremely lucrative (at least for the companies publishing them) are mobile titles that involve players being able to earn blockchain and cryptocurrency, as well as cashable NFT content, as people have been making their way to these games to see if they can score big on the markets while everything is booming and popular. However, the country of South Korea is already taking a stance against the content. According to the local website Naver, the country's gaming regulator has sent out an order to both Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store to remove blockchain-based play-to-earn games immediately from their platforms.

To be clear about the situation, the government is not looking to block or inhibit blockchain, NFT's, or cryptocurrency in their country. They actually have one of the biggest markets for it in the world for each of these and going against it at this point would probably end up being a massive uphill battle. The issue delves more into the fact that these types of games enable players to take their winnings and exchange them for fiat. This is a no-go with South Korean gaming laws, as they have a strict cap on the maximum amount any individual can earn, According to their Game Industry Promotion Act, the most you can win is ₩10K, which translates to about $8.40.

According to the report, it isn't just Google and Apple the government has chatted with, it's also smaller app distributors who have been given the same order. We'll see who complies and who doesn't, but much like loot boxes before them, this could be a signaling point for other countries to tackle this topic if they view it violates any of their laws as well.