In South Korea, many laws regulate the gaming industry, and it is impossible to release a game in the country without obtaining a license. However, some international platforms often do not block access to projects without a license, and therefore all world projects are available to South Korean gamers. The situation is on the verge of violating the law, and the digital distribution stores of games themselves may be in the so-called “gray zone.”
Valve is interested in independently issuing licenses for games released on the Steam platform. This was reported by South Korean media with reference to the head of the South Korean rating agency. According to him, the first negotiations on this issue took place in March 2024, and the terms of a possible partnership are currently being discussed.
In addition to issuing a rating, it is planned that Valve in South Korea will monitor the disclosure of real chances for obtaining in-game items through loot boxes and the gacha system. This law has been in effect in the country since March 22, 2024, and during this time it has attracted a lot of attention to some games hosted on Steam.
At the moment, it remains unclear how this will affect the most popular gaming platform in the world. It is possible that this will only affect residents of South Korea. However, we suspect that players from other countries would not mind knowing the real chances of receiving items in games.
