The Korea Game User Association, in partnership with 'Kim Seong-hoe’s G-Sik Encyclopedia', has officially reported a number of domestic web-hard services and overseas websites hosting illegal repacks and cracks of major South Korean titles to the Korea Copyright Protection Agency and the Game Rating and Administration Committee.

The move comes as the illegal downloading of domestic games reaches a critical tipping point. With cracked copies proliferating from overseas to local web-hard services, the association aims to curb user harm and protect the gaming ecosystem from this rampant piracy.

The list of reported entities includes notorious overseas piracy hubs such as 'FitGirl Repacks', 'DODI Repacks', 'elamigosweb', and 'ankergames', alongside domestic web-hard platforms that profit from the redistribution of these illicit files.

The association pointed out that these sites do not just bypass Digital Rights Management (DRM) in blatant violation of copyright law, but also pose a severe security risk by potentially distributing malware to unsuspecting users.

In response, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Game Content Industry Division and the Game Rating and Administration Committee have designated these overseas hubs and domestic channels as priority targets for a two-to-three-month intensive monitoring and remediation campaign.

YouTuber Kim Seong-hoe remarked, "At a time when South Korean content and the domestic gaming industry are gaining global recognition, the spread of pirated copies on web-hard services is a grave crime that stifles the creativity of developers and shakes the very foundations of the industry."

Attorney Lee Cheol-woo, who serves as a copyright expert lecturer for the Korea Copyright Commission, noted, "Under copyright law, habitual infringement for profit can be investigated and prosecuted even without a direct complaint from the rights holder. Users should also be extremely cautious, as the cracking process often exposes them to viruses, ransomware, and the theft of personal information."

Moving forward, the Korea Game User Association intends to maintain a constant vigil over international illegal distribution networks, P2P services, and domestic web-hard providers that turn a blind eye to copyright infringement. The association plans to expand its cooperation with relevant copyright protection bodies to build a robust governance structure for safeguarding domestic game intellectual property.