The self-regulatory evaluation committee under the Korea Game Policy Autonomy Organization, which operates self-regulation of probabilistic items in games, will come up with a proposal to improve the guidelines as early as this month. Some game companies preemptively strengthen self-regulation, such as announcing the disclosure of the probability of major items.
According to the industry on the 3rd, the self-regulatory evaluation committee has been working to finalize the amendment to the self-regulatory code that has been prepared since last year. It was planned to be announced last month, but plans to approve it as early as this month to compensate for the lack of progress. The approval proposal is passed on to the Korea Game Industry Association, which is reviewed and published.
Although the details of the amendment have not been confirmed, it is known to be more intense than the existing self-regulatory code. The self-regulation of probabilistic items began in 2015 and expanded and improved twice in 2017 and 2018.
An official of the committee said, “The goal is to improve the incompleteness in the draft and hand it over to the association within this month.
The industry is also showing a movement to proactively improve the problem. On the 5th, Nexon decided to disclose the probability of’Cube’ items suspected of system manipulation. Cube items are used in the’Maple Story’ game to change the equipment item’s potential option or to raise it to a higher rank.
This is the first case of converting the probability of an item that a game company used to operate privately to public. Nexon has not disclosed the probability of cube items according to the minimum self-regulatory code. This is because the potential ability of the cube item corresponds to an additional effect and is not included in the subject of self-regulation.
User complaints were raised because the probability of obtaining the desired stat (statistic value) or the probability of increasing the grade was not known. Recently, some suspicions of users that the odds were manipulated were confirmed as facts, resulting in intensifying backlash.
Kang Won-ki, director of MapleStory, said, “We are preparing for a full review of the damage compensation plan, additional compensation for the customer’s incomprehensible response, and the disclosure of the cube probability.” Will” he explained. Director Kang added, “It is late, but from now on, we will show changes so that customers can trust Maple Story and play.”
On the 13th, Nexon will also hold a user conference on the game of’Mabinogi’ and collect user complaints. It plans to improve the operation of probability-type items based on field opinions.
Last month, Netmarble held a’Fate Grand Order’ meeting and listened to users’ opinions on the overall game operation.
It is noteworthy whether the industry’s preemptive self-regulation move will resolve the increasing user dissatisfaction over probabilistic items and reverse the political regime’s move to legalize regulations. In the National Assembly, Lee Sang-heon, Democratic Party member Ha Tae-kyung, and People’s Power Congressman Ha Tae-kyung are raising their voices of criticism about probability items in the game industry.
An official in the game industry said, “Game companies are moving preemptively to respond to user complaints and requests for legalization. However, the antipathy for probability-type items is high, so it remains to be seen whether the effects of the industry midnight efforts will appear.
Reporter Hyunsoo Lee [email protected]