South Korea has taken a big step toward cracking down on cheating in online games by going so far as to criminalize anything against the game’s terms of service. This includes things like distributing aimbots, wall hacks, and the like. According to a PVPLive report, anyone convicted of doing so could face up to five years in prison or pay a whopping $43,000 in fines.
The law does not target esports specifically, although it would seem to be the most obvious target given its popularity in South Korea especially. Game makers like Valve, Blizzard, and Riot will likely use these laws to crack down on cheaters.
However, there is some dissent about this set of laws, understandably so, It can open up the door to abuse of these laws on the developer side of the equation. There is also the point that criminalizing the creation of a cheating software as opposed to profiting in a specific way through cheating can lead to a lot of unintended consequences.
Another situation that could possibly arise from this is that if anything that goes against a game’s ToS is against the law, couldn’t something as innocuous as modding be forbidden, regardless of the intention?
It is unknown what direction this will take, but this will certainly change the face of online gaming regardless.
