Please tell me about the types of violations of the Game Industry Promotion Act.

The Game Industry Promotion Act imposes strict regulations across game production, distribution, and operation as a whole in order to foster a sound game culture and prevent the spread of speculative game products.

Therefore, if a game company engages in the following acts, it may become subject to criminal punishment or administrative sanctions.

① Providing speculative game products and illegal currency exchange

Under the Game Industry Promotion Act, speculative acts using game products are strictly prohibited.

If a company uses game products to facilitate speculative acts such as gambling or encourages speculativeness, it may be punished.

The level of punishment is prescribed as imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine not exceeding 50 million won under Articles 28 and 44 of the Act.

② Distribution of game products that have not received a rating classification

Before official service, all game products must receive a rating classification from the Game Rating and Administration Committee.

If, during rating classification, a product is judged to be a speculative game product, its rating classification may be refused.

In this case, distributing a game product whose rating classification has been refused constitutes an offense punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine not exceeding 50 million won under Articles 21 and 44 of the Game Industry Promotion Act.

③ Operating an unregistered or illegal game arcade

Under the Game Industry Promotion Act, to operate a game arcade you must register with the competent authority as a general game provision business or a youth game provision business.

If this is violated, imprisonment for up to 2 years or a fine not exceeding 20 million won is imposed under Articles 26 and 45 of the Act.

Accordingly, if a possibility of violating the law is suspected during game planning or operation, it is safe to obtain the advice of an entertainment attorney with abundant experience in game industry cases.