A bill amending the Game Industry Act, now at the committee-review stage as of 16 September 2026, would require game-related business operators to establish internal control standards governing how executives and employees handle game-related information, in order to prevent unauthorized generation of game items and leakage of game operation data. The bill would also make it an offense for anyone — not just insiders — to leak or infringe upon game operation information, with criminal penalties for violations (new Article 2(2-2), Article 31-3, Article 31-4). It is a proposal only: no effective date has been set, and it has not yet cleared committee.

The stated rationale is a pattern of internal staff at game companies improperly generating in-game items or leaking program operation information for unfair profit, which current law does not specifically address.

What this means for you

  • This is not yet in force. The bill is at the committee-review stage (as of 16 September 2026). No designation duty, threshold, or penalty amount is fixed yet — the source states only that violations would be criminally punishable, without specifying a figure.
  • If you operate a game business reaching Korean users, start reviewing internal controls now. The bill's core ask is an internal-control standard for staff handling game operational information — think access controls on item-generation systems and logging/audit trails for account and item data — so that you are not starting from zero if it passes.
  • Track committee movement, not just passage. As with other pending Game Industry Act amendments, the bill can sit, advance, or be folded into a larger revision; the addressee scope ("게임물 관련사업자 및 그 임직원" — game-related business operators and their executives/employees) and any threshold or effective date should be confirmed once the bill moves further.
  • Watch for the criminal-penalty detail. The current text specifies criminal punishment for leakage/infringement of game operation information but does not yet fix a fine amount or sentencing range — check subsequent drafts for that detail before assessing exposure.

Source: 2217868_의사국 의안과_의안원문.pdf