Major game companies in Korea are struggling with illegal programs (macros) that some users exploit. The use of illegal programs is a chronic problem that harms the game ecosystem by shortening a game's lifespan and accelerating user churn. In the game industry, there are growing calls that legal sanctions are needed to solve the illegal program problem.
According to the game industry on the 18th, NCSOFT recently said it filed a complaint against five users for obstruction of business for using illegal programs in the new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) AION2. They are accused of repeatedly using illegal programs not allowed by the company in the game, undermining the in-game economic ecosystem and disrupting normal users' play. Since the launch of AION2, NCSOFT has implemented usage restrictions on 72,621 accounts across 23 rounds for violations of its operating policies. On the 9th, the production team warned via a live broadcast that it is reviewing additional measures based on the degree of macro abuse and will take a hard-line legal response.
A NCSOFT official said, "In addition to using illegal macro programs, the defendants were found to have infringed the game's fairness and economic system for personal gain through account sales and the distribution of in-game currency," adding, "Following this legal action, we plan to continue strong measures."
Netmarble has been taking ongoing account actions after identifying users operating the game abnormally within the MMORPG Vampir, released in Aug. This month alone, Netmarble acted on 91,720 accounts, averaging about 5,700 per day. Com2uS is also taking account actions against users who violated operating policies in the MMORPG The Starlight, released in Sep. The company said on the 10th that, after conducting a data-based investigation into abnormal gameplay, it acted on a total of 1,346 accounts. Users subject to account action face either a reset of service usage data or permanent suspension.
Illegal programs used in games are largely divided into hacks and macros. Hacks are programs that manipulate game data to enable actions impossible in the original game, such as auto-aim in shooting games. Macros automate actions that users would otherwise have to perform, helping to auto-harvest or auto-hunt. Such programs either give certain users an advantage in competitive games or automate cumbersome actions.
Illegal programs negatively affect the in-game economic ecosystem. When currency is generated excessively or data is manipulated, ordinary users suffer, and in the long term this leads to user attrition. Users who exploit illegal programs run macros using hundreds of accounts at so-called "workshops" to mine currency and then cash it out. In particular, the MMORPG genre is a prime target for macro abuse given the high cash value of in-game currency and items. In response, game companies are committing significant manpower and expense to block illegal programs and are taking a hard-line stance.
In the game industry, there are calls that legal sanctions are necessary to resolve the issue of illegal programs. Currently, game companies respond by monitoring accounts that use illegal programs and taking account actions from time to time. However, even if one account is suspended, another can be created, making it difficult to uproot the problem. Another issue cited is that users of illegal programs are becoming increasingly organized and larger in scale. Because these organizations base themselves overseas, investigations are difficult, and the level of punishment is not high, so law enforcement agencies are effectively not taking active action.
In this regard, the Korea Game Users Association on the 15th emphasized that an amendment to the Game Act that would allow direct punishment of illegal program users could be one solution. The amendment proposed by Rep. Cho Seung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea prohibits acts that are produced and distributed for the purpose of disrupting the normal operation of a game or that are habitually used and cause serious disruption to other users. This expands the scope of punishment beyond the existing law, which targeted only producers and distributors of illegal programs, to include users who habitually use them and cause harm.
A game industry official said, "Game companies are deploying monitoring personnel to continuously watch and detect, but illegal programs create new bypass routes, so there are limits to preemptive blocking," adding, "Even if we file complaints, the level of punishment is low, and the problem keeps recurring."