The Game Management Committee (hereafter referred to as the "Game Committee") will proceed to join the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC). It is noteworthy that joining IARC will provide institutional devices for sanctioning Google and Apple, which ignore the government`s recommendation to change the ratings on mobile games.

The Game Committee, on June 20, has revealed that the Gaming Committee met at the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles to discuss the details of the IARC`s participation, including Chairman Myeong-sook and Chairman Patricia Vance of IARC on June 14. The Commission`s IARC subscription is interpreted to be aimed at global mobile platform operators, particularly Google, which ignores most of the public agency`s rating change recommendations.

The Game Committee plans to submit membership request to IARC next month. The members of the game committee will join immediately after the voting process. Through the after-council, the game secretariat will communicate the coordinated opinions to the game committee and work on collecting opinions from 9 members (including the chairperson).

IARC is an international organization established by the classification organizations of the United States (ESRB), Europe (PEGI) and Germany (USK) for the classification of digital distribution games. Currently, the rating agencies of game categories such as USA, Europe, Germany, Brazil (DJRTQ) and Australia (ACB) are joining as member countries. Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Mozilla have joined IARC`s rating system.

Once Korea joins the IARC member countries, the games that are provided through the game market such as Google and Microsoft which are currently using the IARC classification system should display the age rating according to the domestic classification standard. Especially, it is anticipated that the confusion caused by various age grades will be resolved by international game market, and it will be effective in protecting youth from harmful games. The right to directly adjust the self rating classifications determined by the member of the business having the rights to the game. It will be possible to change the grade to the same level that the committee has set up and provide it to Korean users without asking Google to change the rating of the game.

Currently, the Game Committee recommends changing the rating of mobile game products to Google and Apple, which are classified as internal classification criteria. However, both corporations are ignoring it. On the other hand, the visiting team of the United States of America held a meeting with global players to discuss ways to strengthen the post game management of games. Valve, who operates a PC game open market in Steam, decided to discuss game classification schemes for domestic purposes with the game in order to protect domestic users. Besides, Google and Microsoft said they decided to discuss the details of the practical information on the range of information and methods for post game management.

Yeo Myung-suk, Chairperson of Game Committee said, "The international cooperation of rating classification and follow-up management is becoming increasingly important in the rapidly changing game market. Therefore, we intend to join the international organization and strengthen cooperation with global players."


By Kim Soo Yeon newsnews@


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