South Korea passes new amendment on loot box probability disclosure

South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a new amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act. It will force developers to disclose the probability of obtaining chance-based items.

The National Assembly of South Korea

• As reported by GameMeca, the bill was passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly on February 27, with 180 out of 182 people voting in favor of it.
• The new amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act will require companies to display the probability of obtaining rewards from loot boxes in games, ads, and on official websites.
• The absence of such information or the indication of false probabilities entails a fine of up to ₩20 million ($15.1k) or imprisonment for up to two years.
• “We respect the purpose of the amendment and the National Assembly’s decision to pass the bill, and hope that the global environment and industry reality can be reflected in the process of enacting the enforcement ordinance,” the Korea Association of Game Industry (K-GAMES) said in a statement, promising to cooperate with the government and faithfully comply with obligations.

Some Korean game companies have already started disclosing loot box probabilities, but there were no specific laws in the country requiring such actions. In 2021, the K-GAMES introduced a set of self-regulatory rules regarding loot boxes, which resulted in developers like Nexon and Netmarble adopting new guidelines.