The South Korean government has taken action to block the release of new play-to-earn games and requested that existing ones be removed from Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
P2E gaming has become common in the cryptocurrency industry. Gamers typically must first purchase game pieces as a NFT in order to play the game and receive in-game rewards. However, gaming prizes over a few dollars are banned in South Korea.
The Game Management Committee in the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism on Monday requested major mobile app marketplaces block any games that require in-app purchases before playing the game.
To combat the proliferation of what it sees as speculative money-making schemes, the GMC has made it all but impossible for P2E game developers to get their work listed on the most popular mobile app stores.
While the government’s attempt to mitigate the growth of P2E games by going straight to the app marketplaces is a new development, game developers in South Korea have been facing court battles since April to keep their P2E games up for sale in domestic app stores
