In South Korea, boosting — pumping of characters on other people’s accounts has been banned. Gamers who are paid to raise someone else’s rating face two years of probation and a fine of $ 18 thousand.
In Dota 2, CS:GO, Overwatch and other competitive games, boosting is very common. Players who do not have the time or skills to conquer the tops of the rating table turn to more experienced gamers, who, on the contrary, have both the time and the skills and the desire to earn. There are even professional companies that offer booster services.
The authorities of South Korea, where esports are taken very seriously, want to remove such organizations from the market. To this end, they have amended the Law on the Promotion of the Gaming Industry. The authors of the amendment stated that boosting violates the balance in esports disciplines, and in addition, it belongs to the shadow sectors of the economy, so its existence is unacceptable.
Most popular games suffer from professional dealer gaming companies. It was a tumor that harmed the esports ecosystem, as well as ordinary users. But the adopted amendment will help improve the esports ecosystem.
Representative of the South Korean Government
The law on criminal prosecution of boosters will come into force in six months.
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