NFT uncertainties in South Korea prompt court to stop the release of a P2E game
A court in South Korea prohibited the launch of a play-to-earn (P2E) game, stating that its NFTs cannot be regarded as game features if users can trade them on exchanges.
SkyPeople’s futile appeal against the Game Rating
SkyPeople, game devs of the Five Stars P2E game, argued their case that items in the game plus characters minted as NFTs are records of ownership rather than rewards.
Unfortunately, their appeal hit a dead end when a court in Seoul stopped the Game Rating Administrative Committee (GRAC) from processing the game’s age rating. GRAC is responsible for providing age ratings of all video games in South Korea, and each game must obtain a permit before release.
At the time of writing, there are 2,256 Five Stars owners, and players can mint NFTs from items and characters on the Klaytn blockchain.
The root of Five Stars’ issue stems from coining fictional people and objects into tradable NFTs on the Klaytn blockchain. The court ruled that they cannot be categorized as game objects.
In the past, the Game Rating Administration forbade games that use cryptos or NFTs, citing a local regulation prohibiting businesses from encouraging speculative behavior in players through cashable prizes.
Since then, South Korean P2E game developers have only published their blockchain-based titles outside of Korea while they wait for President Yoon Suk-yeol to fulfill his pledge to lift the play-to-earn ban. Yoon has previously stated that creating metaverse-related technology is a national goal.
Due to local legislation forbidding businesses from encouraging players to engage in speculative activity through cashable prizes, games that use cryptos or NFTs have been outlawed by the game rating committee in South Korea.
Firms in South Korea are getting ready to launch security token sales
A report from Busan Ilbo claims that some well-known companies in the nation are getting ready to launch services related to security token offerings (STO) this year. South Korea’s commitment to blockchain technology is on the part of both the public and private sectors.
Businesses are reportedly waiting for the Financial Services Commission {FSC} to release sector rules on how to offer STOs legally. On January 19, the FSC will make a statement about STOs.
Domestic securities companies have been “busy constructing digital asset platforms” that can handle and create tokens in anticipation that FSC will approve them to offer such services later this month. However, details concerning the announcement are scant.
Korea Exchange and financial behemoths Kookmin, Shinhan, and Kiwoom Securities are among the companies planning to offer STOs to help South Korea’s digital asset ecosystem grow. Additionally, Busan aims to incorporate STOs into its Digital Assets Exchange initiative, which is being built in collaboration with several of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, including Binance.
South Korea currently forbids issuing any crypto asset, although the FSC and president Yoon Suk-yeol have said they aim to modify this law.
