Game Rating and Administration Committee

The Game Rating and Administration Committee (Korean: 게임물관리위원회; RR: Geimmul Gwalli-Wiwonhoe; GRAC) (formerly the Game Rating Board (Korean: 게임물등급위원회; RR: Geimmul Deung-Geub-Wiwonhoe) until December 23, 2013) is the South Korean video game content rating board. A governmental organization, the GRAC rates video games to inform customers of the nature of game contents.

Game Rating and Administration Committee
게임물관리위원회
Game Rating and Administration Committee logo hangug-eo.svg
Video game content rating body overview
Formed2006 (as Game Rating Board)
JurisdictionSouth Korea
HeadquartersBusan, South Korea
Websitewww.grac.or.kr
Game Rating and Administration Committee
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGeimmul Gwalli Wiwonhoe
McCune–ReischauerKeimmul kwalli wiwŏnhoe

Initially, the Korea Media Rating Board, a governmental organization, rated video games just like other entertainment media. However, a controversy occurred because the Korea Media Rating Board rated an arcade gambling game Sea Story as if it were suitable for everyone, with allegations of misconduct. The Korean government responded to the controversy by creating the GRB in 2006 and making it the only rating organization for rating video games in South Korea.[1][2][3][4]

The GRAC has been criticized as one of the elements of the Internet censorship in South Korea, and has been criticized for being the same as censorship of China.[5][6][7] By law, games sold in the country must be rated by GRAC prior to sale; additional regulations stipulate age and real name verification for certain mature-audience titles, as well as regulations on location-based games.[8]

In October 2022, the GRAC's decision to raise the age rating for the game Blue Archive from 15+ to 18+ drew criticism from fans. The move prompted a petition calling for a public audit of the GRAC led by Democratic Party politician Lee Sang-heon, which received 5,489 in-person signatures in front of the National Assembly building. The audit's findings were published in June 2023 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), which found that the GRAC had mishandled around 700 million won ($600,000) in taxpayer money. In light of the findings, the MCST announced it would overhaul the committee, replacing department heads and filing criminal charges against those involved.[9][10]

Age rating symbol

The GRAC currently uses four different age ratings.[11]

Rating Description
ALL: Titles rated ALL have content that may be suitable for all ages.
  • The content of the game offers educational, or cultivating moral character and sentiments for children.
  • The content of the game has no representation of anti-societal idea, distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that harm children emotionally and physically.
  • The content and motif of the game have no representation of obscenity, violence, or reproduction of gambling spirit that harms children at all.
12+: Titles rated 12+ have content that may be suitable for ages 12 and older.
  • The content of the game may have representations of anti-societal idea, distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that would be harmful to children under 12 emotionally and physically.
  • The content and motif of the game may have representations of obscenity, violence, reproduction of gambling spirit that would be harmful to children under 12 (slight level of sexuality, violence, improper language (expletives), etc.).
15+: Titles rated 15+ have content that may be suitable for ages 15 and older.
  • The content of the game may have representations of anti-societal idea, distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that would be harmful to children under 15 emotionally and physically.
  • The content and motif of the game may have representations of obscenity, violence, speculation, etc. that would be harmful to children under 15 (indirect and restricted representation of sexuality, violence, improper language (expletives) and low level of reproduction of gambling spirit (arousing of passion for excessive use of gaming money, or dependence on one's luck).
18+: Titles rated 18+ have content restricted for ages 18 and older.
  • The content of the game may have representations of anti-societal idea, distortion or profanity of religion and public morals that would be harmful to minors emotionally and physically.
  • The content and motif of the game may have representations of obscenity, violence, speculation, etc. that would be harmful to minors (direct and concrete graphical representation of sexuality, violence, improper language (expletives), reproduction of gambling spirit (existence of arousing of passion of excessive use of gaming money, or dependence on one's luck, but no real gain or loss of one's asset).[12]
TESTING: Game contents for testing with GRAC's permission before general release.
  • The game is either being demonstrated, or the rating is pending.

Content descriptors
Content descriptors
IconContent descriptorDescriptionRatings
SexualityContains references or explicit depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including nudity.[13]
ViolenceContains references or scenes involving aggressive conflict, may contain blood scenes (realistic blood, gore, weapons, and depictions of human injury and death)/PvP or PK.[14]
Fear, Horror, ThreateningContains references or depictions of horrifying action.[15]
LanguageContains references or explicit depictions of inappropriate language. (sexual, problematic social messages, abusive language, etc.)[16]
Alcohol, Tobacco, DrugContains references or images of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, and/or illegal drug use.[17]
Crime, Anti-societalContains references or images of crime, anti-societal, and/or anti-governmental messages.[18]
GamblingContains references to gambling or betting (speculation), and/or simulated gambling.[19]

See also

References
  1. Myung Oh; James Larson (14 March 2011). Digital Development in Korea: Building an Information Society. Taylor & Francis. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-1-136-81313-9.
  2. "Sea Story scandal simmers | The Marmot's Hole". Rjkoehler.com. 2006-08-22. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  3. "South Korean PM apologizes for video game controversy". Taipei Times. 2014-08-19. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  4. "Blizzard's rush for cash?". Koreatimes.co.kr. 2011-09-25. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  5. "Censorship in South Korea: Game over". The Economist. 2011-04-14. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  6. "South Korea's Game Rating Board and The War on Online Content | The Marmot's Hole". Rjkoehler.com. 2010-09-07. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  7. "Korea Blocks Facebook Game Apps". Koreanoodles. 2014-09-02. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  8. jaripekka (25 January 2020). "South-Korea / How To Enable Digital Growth In Europe?". European Games Developer Federation.
  9. Wolens, Joshua (2023-07-06). "Anime game fans got so angry about a nudity-related age rating they brought down South Korea's 'festering and rotting' game rating agency for corruption". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  10. 김주환. "민주 이상헌, '게임물관리위 전산망 비리의혹' 국민감사 청구". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  11. "Age Rating Symbol". Archived from the original on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  12. "Rating Guide". GAME RATING BOARD. Archived from the original on 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
  13. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  14. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  15. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  16. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  17. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  18. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  19. "GAME RATING and ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE". Retrieved 2020-11-15.
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