Gacha gamers get South Korean game rating board investigated for corruption
Everyone’s favorite national game rating board is in trouble: The Game Rating and Administration Commission (GRAC) of Korea, responsible for giving age ratings to video games, is currently under investigation for corruption and three department heads have already resigned from their positions. GRAC is infamous for leaking unannounced video games through its ratings, like the supposed remaster of Red Dead Redemption that showed up in its reports recently.
According to NicheGamer based on a report by South Korean outlet Insight Korea, GRAC has come into the sights of the anti-corruption authorities due to reports made by upset players of Blue Archive, a mobile game with gacha mechanics developed by Nexon Games. The game’s age rating had recently been raised from 15 to 18 by GRAC alongside that of fellow mobile gacha title Fate Grand Order, because the content was estimated to be too graphic.
Players disagreed with this change, around 5,500 of them launching a petition in October 2022 to request an audit of GRAC, which made a politician take note of the case. The authorities discovered that members of the board embezzled around $46,000 in funds, allegedly funneling the money into mining crypto currency.
Lawmaker Lee Sang-heon, who is a member of parliament’s Culture and Sports Commission responsible for anything related to video games, thanked the Blue Archive players for taking “their valuable time” and stepping up “to reveal the misconduct.”
“The Game Management Committee, which is consistent with conservative game censorship and regulation, was festering and rotting inside the institution,” he said.
It’s currently unclear whether Blue Archive and Fate Grand Order’s age ratings will be reverted to suitable for age 15 and above – the original purpose of the petition made by players.
