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Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft II is one of the most anticipated computer game titles with an expected release date later this year, but the company is drawing criticism here for its loose management of legal issues. / Korea Times |
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Blizzard Entertainment, the U.S.-based maker of blockbuster game StarCraft, may have to go through a police investigation in Korea after the firm failed to put a rating on the sequel, dubbed StarCraft II.
The Game Rating Board (GRB) said Friday that it reported the fact to the police early this week. If Blizzard Entertainment Korea is found to have broken the law, those in charge could be subject to a maximum of two years in jail or as much as 20 million won in fines.
``Before launching its closed beta services of StarCraft II midway through last month, Blizzard Entertainment Korea asked whether they should put the game's rating on its online version,'' a GRB official said. StarCraft II is rated to be appropriate for gamers aged 15 years or older.
``We told them to include the rating but it did not follow our instruction for more than a week. This has prompted us to ask for the investigation by law enforcement agencies.''
More than 4 million copies of StarCraft have been sold in Korea alone since its debut in 1998 to account for upside of 40 percent of its global sales, which amount to some 11 million copies.
To capitalize on the popularity, Blizzard created the sequel and has launched the beta tests in February with the aim of commercial release this summer.
When contacted, Blizzard Entertainment Korea said that it had been victimized.
``Regarding the rating, we sought after the opinion of GRB in January but it did not respond. Hence, we sent an official document on Feb. 3 and a received a reply just before the Lunar New Year holiday,'' a Blizzard spokesperson said.
``As our head office is in charge of the beta testing, we could not modify it before the tests started on Feb. 18. So we began testing first and patched it up late last month to include the ratings with the full understanding of the GRB. I don't know why the agency is taking issue with it now.''
The spokesperson added that Blizzard did not intend break relevant laws at all.
``The related regulation was somewhat ambiguous. That's why we asked the opinion of the GRB in January but the GRB did not give us a quick answer,'' she said.
``In addition, we did not invite those younger than 15 to the beta tests, which are operated on an invitation basis.''
voc200@koreatimes.co.kr
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