A screenshot of “Five Stars for Klaytn” by SkyPeople
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — A court has upheld a measure prohibiting blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) games from domestic distribution.
The Seoul Administrative Court said Tuesday that it recently dismissed the case filed by SkyPeople, developer of P2E game “Five Stars for Klaytn,” to cancel the Game Rating and Administration Committee’s rating rejection.
The committee arbitrarily revoked the rating of the game based on its judgment that the game’s non-fungible token (NFT) transaction function has a speculative tendency.
The court ruled that the game’s NFT items can be seen as a giveaway that is prohibited under the Game Industry Law and the provision of such items could encourage speculative behavior.
The court stressed, “Ownership of the items is vested to users regardless of the provision of game service and even people without game accounts can buy and own the items.”
“In addition, they can be freely distributed through the exchange. Accordingly, the game’s NFT items are not simple game items.”
Based on such points, the court noted that the game’s NFT items have a meaning as an inherent address of digital assets as well as having property value.
“It would be difficult for P2E games to be distributed in the domestic market as long as current laws are not revised,” said Lee Chul-woo, a lawyer who representing the Game Rating and Administration Committee.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
