'Daema Game' Played by Adolescents? Holes in Game Rating and Administration Committee Classification

Classified as Suitable for Ages 12 and 15

As youth drug use increases and becomes a social issue, it has been revealed that mobile games featuring the cultivation and sale of marijuana have been exposed to adolescents without any protection for an extended period.

Detailed information on marijuana types and cultivation methods... "Rated for youth to play"

Gameplay scene of game B dealing with indoor marijuana cultivation.
[Image source=Game screen capture]

On the 20th, Yonhap News reported that dozens of mobile games themed around marijuana are available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. For example, Game A, released in 2018, involves operating a factory that cultivates, processes, and sells marijuana. The game system is an idle type that progresses even without direct play, but it exposes real marijuana strains as they are.

Game B, released in 2015, operates by growing marijuana in pots at home and selling it to visiting customers. It shows scenes similar to actual marijuana cultivation sites seen in police footage, such as supplying moisture with water tanks or shining lamp lights. The game also includes images and cartoons that glamorize marijuana smoking. The rating for Games A and B is "17 and older," allowing high school students to play. Some games even have a "12 and older" rating, meaning elementary school students can access them. Game C, which involves running a marijuana sales organization, received a "15 and older" rating in May, and Game D, which involves transporting marijuana by elevator for sale, was rated "12 and older" earlier this month, allowing elementary school students to use it.

Most mobile games rated "15 and older" or below distributed in domestic app markets are rated through self-assessment by operators such as Google Play or Apple App Store.

Game Rating Board takes no special action on marijuana cultivation games... "May arouse curiosity"

The hemp cultivation game classified as suitable for ages 12 and 15. [Image source=Google Play Store capture]

The Game Rating Board reclassifies ratings ex officio if a game with a self-assigned rating falls under "restricted to adults" or "rating refusal." According to Article 10 of the Game Rating Board's classification regulations, games that depict crimes and drugs specifically and directly fall under the "restricted to adults" rating. Additionally, Article 32 of the Game Industry Promotion Act (Game Industry Act) considers games that may disrupt social order by encouraging criminal or imitation psychology as "illegal games" prohibited from distribution.

However, the Game Rating Board, which has operated a separate monitoring team led by the self-rating support team, has apparently taken no special action against marijuana cultivation games that have been on app markets for several months to several years. A Game Rating Board official told Yonhap News, "Due to the nature of the self-rating process, it seems that the rating was assigned based on a questionnaire submitted by the game company to Google Play," but added, "We will decide whether to reclassify the rating ex officio through focused monitoring of the problematic games."

Experts point out that such games lower social awareness of marijuana and drugs. The marijuana depicted in the games is likely to stimulate curiosity and could lead to imitation of cultivation methods. The National Police Agency reported that the number of marijuana offenders booked increased steadily from 936 in 2018 to 1,547 in 2019 and 2,088 last year. Among them, those sent to prosecution with a recommendation also increased from 784 in 2018 to 1,342 in 2019 and 1,870 last year. Additionally, among 1,002 drug offenders aged 19 or younger recorded between 2019 and 2021, 209 (20.8%) were caught in marijuana-related cases. The Korea Customs Service announced that the amount of marijuana seized at border checkpoints in the first half of this year was 83 kg, a 43.6% increase compared to 57.8 kg in the first half of last year.

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