Those found guilty can receive a fine of up to $18,000.
South Korea’s National Assembly recently passed an amendment that can result in players caught Boosting in online games getting charged with a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of up to $18,000.
As reported by Inven (via Dot Esports), the law is an amendment to South Korea’s Game Industry Promotion Act, which already applied these punishments to crimes related to hacking, the illegal distribution and licensing of games, and more. Boosting occurs when a highly-skilled player in games like Overwatch or League of Legends is paid to artificially boost another player’s ranking by logging onto their account and winning matches for them.
The South Korean government will now target boosters and boosting companies that facilitate paid rank inflation. Boosting negatively impacts games that utilize skill-based rankings, as it throws a wrench into various systems that developers create to properly match players to others in their appropriate skill level.
For more on gaming in South Korea, check out how a USA vs South Korea Overwatch World Cup match changed minds about Overwatch’s place in esports and how EVE Online’s developer was bought by South Korea’s Pearl Abyss.
Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
