Game Industry Leaders Meet with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism: "Flexible Operation of the 52-Hour Workweek Needed" (Comprehensive)

Minister Park Yang-woo: "Tax Benefits Previously Given to Manufacturing Should Also Be Provided to the Game Industry"

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo is having a meeting with game industry and association officials at the Korea Game Industry Association conference room in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 14th, and is taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Representatives of the gaming industry met with Park Yang-woo, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to propose the need for institutional improvements to allow more flexible operation of the 52-hour workweek system in order to revitalize the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Park expressed her determination to swiftly improve the long-standing regulations related to the gaming industry and actively address the issue of China’s game licensing (distribution permit) problem to foster the domestic gaming industry.

On the 14th, Minister Park held a meeting at the Korea Game Industry Association with representatives from the gaming industry including Nexon, Netmarble, and NCSoft, as well as officials from the Korea Game Industry Association, Korea Mobile Game Association, Korea Game Developers Association, and Korea Game Society. Attendees from the industry included Lee Jung-heon, CEO of Nexon Korea; Lee Seung-won, CEO of Netmarble; Jung Jin-soo, Vice President of NCSoft; Jung Woo-jin, CEO of NHN; Yang Dong-gi, CEO of Smilegate; Moon Ji-soo, CEO of Neowiz; Jung Kyung-in, CEO of Pearl Abyss; and Lee Yong-guk, Vice President of Com2uS. Also present were Kang Shin-chul, Chairman of the Korea Game Industry Association; Wi Jeong-hyun, Chairman of the Korea Game Society; and Jung Seok-hee, Chairman of the Korea Game Developers Association.

At the meeting, industry representatives argued that "institutional improvements are necessary to allow more flexible operation of the 52-hour workweek system to revitalize the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic." They also requested, "As Chinese companies are actively entering the Korean mobile game market recently, please ensure that Korean companies do not face reverse discrimination." Additionally, they mentioned, "Small and medium-sized game companies are struggling due to intentional and malicious refund practices, and we ask that benefits also be extended to games when operating venture investment funds." Regarding the issue of probability-based items, they conveyed the position that "it is desirable to address this through industry self-regulation as it allows for flexible adaptation to environmental changes."

Minister Park stated, "We will quickly process the improvement of regulations that have been dormant for the domestic gaming industry," and added, "Just as tax benefits were provided to the manufacturing industry in the past, I believe similar tax benefits should be offered to the gaming industry, which has recently become a significant part of domestic exports." She also urged domestic game companies to actively participate so that the upcoming 'Korea-China-Japan eSports Tournament' in November and its accompanying cultural festival can be held as events where all generations can communicate through games.

Chairman Wi requested that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism actively intervene to resume the issuance of game licenses by the Chinese government. In response, Minister Park said, "Issues such as the game licensing problem and the inclusion of gaming addiction in the disease code are among the most important tasks for the development of the gaming industry, so the government will do its best to resolve these issues."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized this meeting to hear field opinions to effectively implement follow-up measures for the comprehensive plan to promote the gaming industry and future amendments to the Gaming Industry Act. Earlier, on the 7th, the ministry announced a comprehensive plan to support the innovative growth of the gaming industry. The plan consists of four core strategies and 16 key tasks: ▲supporting innovative growth through active regulatory and institutional improvements ▲strengthening step-by-step support from startup to overseas market entry ▲spreading the positive value of games and fostering the eSports industry ▲strengthening the gaming industry foundation. The ministry has set goals to achieve KRW 19.9 trillion in sales, KRW 11.5 trillion in exports, and create 102,000 related jobs by 2024 through the promotion of the gaming industry.

Meanwhile, despite the COVID-19 outbreak crisis earlier this year, the gaming industry has shown resilience and is gaining attention as a future growth engine. As of March, mobile game downloads increased by 11% compared to the same period last year, and the first-quarter sales and operating profits of major domestic game companies increased by 27.9% and 98.9%, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.