Gaming firms recruit lawyers to cope with Yoon's hardline policies
President Yoon Suk Yeol listens to a school official during his visit to Gyeonggi Game Meister High School in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, in this July 2023 file photo. Courtesy of the presidential office
Gaming firms' demand for lawyers has been growing recently as the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's tough stance on the industry has increased their legal risks, according to industry officials, Tuesday.
In December, NCSOFT hired VIG Partners managing partner Park Byung-moo with a plan to appoint the former lawyer of Kim & Chang, Korea's largest law firm, as a co-CEO at its regular general meeting of shareholders next month to lead the gaming firm with founder Kim Taek-jin.
"We hired Park to discover new growth engines and accelerate our medium- to long-term 'company building' strategy of becoming a global firm," NCSOFT said in a press release.
Netmarble is set to appoint Kim Byung-gyu, the company's vice president who had previously worked as an in-house counsel at Samsung C&T, as a new co-CEO to replace Do Gi-wook, who is known as a financial expert. It said that Kim has expertise not only in legal affairs but also in overseas affiliate management and strategic planning.
LINE Games CEO Park Sung-min, a former judge who started leading the company in February 2023, will stay in the position again this year. After resigning as a judge in 2022, he joined the gaming firm as an in-house counsel, directing its risk management.
From left are NCSOFT co-CEO nominee Park Byung-moo, Netmarble co-CEO nominee Kim Byung-gyu and LINE Games CEO Park Sung-min. Courtesy of each company
In the past, most domestic gaming firms preferred appointing programmers as their chief executives.
The recent popularity of legal experts in the industry has been attributed mainly to the administration's strict regulations, although the companies have remained cautious about attributing the appointment of their new CEOs to government policies.
Since his presidential campaign days, Yoon has reiterated that his administration will prevent gaming firms from taking advantage of consumers with randomized in-game items. The presidential office also criticized Nexon, which was slapped with an 11.6 billion won ($8.7 million) fine for changing the probability of randomized items multiple times without notification for its hit titles MapleStory and Bubble Fighter to the disadvantage of users.
"Gamers should be protected as consumers who purchase digitalized goods," Yoon said during a government-public discussion session on people's livelihood issues on Jan. 30. "To protect consumers in the gaming industry, resolving unfair market practices should take priority."
Next month, gaming firms will be forced to unveil detailed probabilities of randomized in-game items.
The government also vowed to support victims of unfair randomization of items when they sue gaming firms. Over 500 players of MapleStory subsequently filed compensation suits against Nexon Korea on Monday, saying that 500 more will join the lawsuits.
In addition, Korean gaming firms have struggled with a series of legal battles with domestic rivals and Chinese companies over intellectual property.
"The gaming industry has been suffering various risks, including the government's tough regulations and disputes over intellectual property," said Yoon & Yang's expert adviser Kim Jong-il, who leads the law firm's team of experts in games.
Yoon & Yang recently became the nation's first law firm to organize a team dedicated to legal affairs related to the gaming industry. The law firm emphasized that it will preemptively support gaming firms facing difficulties due to unprecedented regulations and legal disputes.
Last Thursday, it held a meeting with domestic and foreign gaming industry officials to discuss regulations on ads and marketing for games.