[Gettyimages Bank]
In the game developed by Falcon Global, a game development studio based in Singapore, players play rock, paper, and scissors with an in-game female character. Winners can get the character stripped off clothes. The cumulative number of downloads exceeded one million, topping the popular game category of Google Play, days after its release in late December.
A public backlash erupted, led by the Korea Game Society (KGS), an academic society of video game industry officials. KGS head Wi Jong-hyun, a Chung-Ang University business professor, voiced "astonishment" over how it received a 15-year-old rating on Android’s Google Play.
In a statement published on January 5, KGS hurled criticism at the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC), a public watchdog that classifies game content and monitors illegally distributed game websites, arcade game machines and gambling games to protect the public from negative influences such as illegal gambling, excessive violence and nudity.
"The more serious problem is that it's not the first time," Wi said, accusing GRAC of neglecting its duty repeatedly as seen in the case of "Idle Princess," a 2020 South Korean mobile role-playing game that received a 15-year-old rating. In the game, the player becomes a father to raise a daughter. If a user touches the female character, she says "Why do you want to see my underwear so badly?"
GRAC said platform companies were entrusted with self-classification because of budget and manpower limitations. However, KGS expressed concern over the recurrence of controversy over suggestive games, warning that the watchdog's facile attitude could dampen the positive perception of games that have been improving through COVID-19.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
