Korea considering gold farming regulation
A controversial bill proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in South Korea aims to control the exchange of virtual currency. Described by the deputy director of the mMinistry's Game Industry Division as an attempt to "tighten regulations on hazardous gambling activities," the bill would prohibit the sale and purchase of virtual currency, but would not impose controls on item trading.
In recent years the phenomenon of gold farming has grown dramatically. As online role playing games with complex internal economies grow, so too do the number of companies that are looking to cash in on these new virtual economies. It turns out that some gamers are quite happy to pay real world money for in-game currency and/or items, and this has created quite a stir amongst gamers and politicians alike.
The South Korean bill has received strong support from some in the game industry, particularly companies that run multiplayer Internet games in which the commercial exchange of virtual currency can potentially disrupt balance and competition. On the other side of the issue are gold-farming companies that serve the growing market for virtual currency. An article in The Korea Times cites statistics from the country's Game Development and Promotion institute, which states that the size of the virtual item exchange market is roughly $1 billion and estimates that approximately 60 percent of item trading company profits come from gold farming.
1 votes
