확률형 아이템에 대한 법적 규제 필요성

Abstract

At present, the issue of imposing regulations and measures on probability-type items is one of the key controversies in the game industry in South Korea. Probability-type items originated from the Gacha game in Japan. This is an item acquisition method where gamers purchase items in the game with real money, but cannot acquire the item and only get a lottery with the probability to win the item. Game users don't know which item they will get from the lottery, so it leads to immoderate expectations and they keep spending unnecessary funds. In other words, probability-type items cause intense speculative drive. Probability-type items could develop in multiple ways. For example, 5 items like B, C, D, E, and F items may be required as the materials to win A, the final item, but all or some of the material items are probability-type items. This is referred to as Kompu Gacha based on the meaning that it is double-Gacha or a complete-Gacha. Kompu Gacha stimulates greater stipulative drive than general probability-type items. Additionally, it is easy for the game producer to implement marketing gimmicks such as minimizing the probability of acquiring some of the materials. This maximizes the compensation mentality of the users and induces the users to spend an enormous amount of sunk cost. Once the users spend a great amount of sunk cost, they are psychologically forced into a corner and spend more money to purchase the Gacha item. This is an immoderate commercial activity. Although there are serious harmful consequences caused by probability-type items, our country has not enforced coercive regulatory sanctions. Game companies and users are sharing the problem awareness of the probability-type items. The game association even introduced self-regulation about probability-type items numerous times. However, self-regulation does not have any legal force and there is a limit in which it tends to be a passive measure to avoid the state intervention instead of an active response to the problem. Therefore, it is time for the nation to intervene and genuinely discuss the regulations for the probability-type items. There have already been numerous submissions of bills in the National Assembly, but the bills were disposed of each time without sufficient discussion. The legal regulation about the probability-type items cannot be delayed any longer. In the short term, it could lead to a loss in profit for the game companies, but the issue of probability-type items must be resolved for games to leap forward as a complex of art and industry.