South Korea Passes Law To Punish Boosters

Boosting in South Korea is a big enterprise, affecting quite a few of the biggest games in the world. Now, players who are caught engaging in boosting face much worse than just being banned from the game they are playing, as the South Korean government passes an amendment in the Korean National Assembly that could see players charged with boosting face a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine up to $18,000 (20 million won).

The article notes that the amendment will allow law enforcement to crack down on boosters (i.e. people who boost other people’s account SR for a fee), as well as the pervasive ads for boosting services that can be seen on major websites

— Ana's Tal Mask (@gatamchun) December 7, 2018

First proposed back in June of 2017, the amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act saw the government working together with game developers to target boosters and boosting companies that charge for rank inflation across a number of major titles, including League of Legends and Overwatch.

Boosting, for those unaware, is the act of artificially inflating the rank of a player, usually by having a better player use their account. Players who seek out boosting often do so out of a desire either for exclusive rewards that come with a higher rank, or because they desire the prestige that comes with having a higher rank. Boosting itself is a fairly widespread problem across many major titles, with quite a few high-profile professional players getting caught up in the action. With boosters often charging high prices for their services, it can become a highly lucrative job for players who are not competing on a professional team.