South Korean classification body the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) met up with the IARC (International Age Rating Coalition), Google, Valve, and Microsoft recently to discuss how to cooperate and enhance the follow-up management of games at E3 2017.
Members of GRAC met Patricia Vance, IARC Chairman, to adjust details for joining IARC. In particular, the committee tried to reflect the local rating system into the existing IARC rating system. The committee will conduct an IARC entry as early as next month
After the committee joins IARC, it could be expected that games distributed through the marketplaces of Google and Microsoft would be classified based on domestic rating standards.
The whole process of classification would be done within five minutes. The committee will be more globalised and contribute to the various case studies by working closely with the classification agencies of the US, Europe, Germany, Australia and Brazil.
New standard
In addition, the committee held a series of meetings with Google, Valve and Microsoft during E3 to discuss the protection of Korea's users and follow-up management.
Meanwhile, the committee is stepping up the creation of new standards and strengthening global leadership in accordance with the global gaming market's trend. The guidelines will be prepared in the second half of the year.
In September, South Korea will host a global seminar to come up with an effective counterplan for the global game market trend with various game companies and rating committees from various countries.
"It has become necessary to cooperate internationally to react quickly and rightly on a rapidly changing game market," said Lee Myung-sook, the head of the committee.
"We will protect our users by cooperating with various global companies and the international committee.”
This insight comes to us from the team at This Is Game, the leading Korean games portal and media partner of PocketGamer.biz. You'll see some of our articles on their site occasionally and discover exclusive Korean market insights here from This Is Game writers.
