The government has initiated a relaxation of web board game regulations for the first time in four years.

On the 27th, the cabinet approved an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Game Industry Promotion Act, which increases the monthly spending limit for web board games from 700,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW. Following the sunset clause of the existing regulation, the government gathered feedback from both academia and industry to finalize this easing measure. The amended decree is set to take effect in one week, on February 3rd.

The core of this amendment is to increase the monthly purchasing cap for individual users. Consequently, the spending limits for virtual currency and items in games that simulate betting and payouts, such as Go-Stop and poker, will be adjusted from 700,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW. This is an additional regulatory easing measure implemented approximately four years after the limit was raised from 500,000 KRW to 700,000 KRW in 2022.

Web board game regulations were first introduced in 2014 to prevent gambling concerns and user over-immersion. At that time, the monthly spending limit was set at 300,000 KRW, and it was subsequently adjusted in stages to 500,000 KRW in 2016 and 700,000 KRW in 2022. These regulations have operated as a sunset-style policy requiring periodic validity reviews, and this latest increase was also prompted by the approaching expiration of the existing regulations.

This measure is expected to benefit titles such as Go-Stop, poker, and sports prediction games. In fact, when the spending limit was raised to 700,000 KRW in 2022, major web board game companies like NHN and Neowiz saw their quarterly revenues increase by approximately 20% and 13%, respectively, compared to the same period the previous year.