Apple, Google Asked By South Korea To Ax Play-To-Earn Games On App Stores

South Korea’s government has asked $Apple (AAPL.US)$ and Google parent $Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ to stop the release of new play-to-earn games and remove existing ones from their app marketplaces.

What Happened: The Game Management Committee (GMC) under South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism made the request to major app store providers on Monday, reported Cointelegraph, citing local media.

The GMC requested that any games that require in-app purchases before gameplay commences should be blocked.

An official from the GMC said that as per South Korea’s Supreme Court precedent, play-to-earn games cannot be graded under the current law because game items with cash properties can be considered as prizes, as per a report from Naver, a local online platform.

It is noteworthy that gaming companies in Korea must receive a rating from GMC for their games before they can be released in the country.

Why It Matters: “Fivestars for Klaytn,” a play-to-earn game and non fungible token marketplace, was initially blocked in domestic app stores due to a lack of rating but the team related to the project won an injunction in court, reported Cointelegraph.

Klaytn's (KLAY) blockchain was built by Kakao, the company responsible for “KakaoTalk” — a messenger service used by more than 90% of South Koreans.

The listing ban is expected to affect play-to-earn games such as $Axis Capital Holdings (AXS.US)$ and Splinterlands (CRYPTO: SPS).

AXS has soared a whopping 17154% thanks to the popularity of play-to-earn games, particularly in Asian countries, while KLAY has soared 165% in the same time frame.