KEY POINTS

  • Sky Mavis sees South Korea as a good play-to-earn game market
  • One of its founders says the country has lots of "Axie Infinity" players
  • South Korea has an ongoing P2E game ban

"Axie Infinity" has had an eventful year seeing its active player census gradually decline following the multi-million hack on its Ronin bridge. But hope springs eternal as Sky Mavis, the gaming studio behind the popular play-to-earn game, expressed its intention to expand the game to South Korea despite the country's current ban against P2E games.

On Tuesday, Sky Mavis co-founder and growth lead Jeffrey Zirlin, during the Korea Blockchain Week, said that the "Korean market is one of the most important gaming markets in the world," noting that "Axie Infinity" has "tons of players in South Korea." Because of this opportunity, Zirlin pointed out that the team is now trying to look for ways to customize the game so it could offer it to South Korean gamers.

"I think you know; we want to double down. We want to localize; for example, Koreans don't speak much English, right? So there are actually a lot of barriers to actually getting the game into the hands of Korean players," Zirlin told Cointelegraph.

In-game assets called 'Axies' are seen in this undated handout image from the blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, which is owned by Sky Mavis. Sky Mavis/Handout via REUTERS
In-game assets called 'Axies' are seen in this undated handout image from the blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, which is owned by Sky Mavis. Sky Mavis/Handout via REUTERS Reuters / Sky Mavis

Unfortunately, South Korea has a set of anti-gambling policies, with its Game Rating and Administration Committee officially forbidding the release of play-to-earn games in the country. In December last year, the government requested Google and Apple to block play-to-earn games in the Play and App Stores, including those games that entail in-app purchases before players can enjoy them.

"It is reasonable to keep P2E games from getting age ratings under the current law because cash rewards in games can be considered prizes," the GMC said in an official statement after Supreme Court precedent in blocking play-to-earn games from being listed and from getting age ratings.

Data acquisition and analysis company that monitors decentralized apps, DappRadar, noted at the time that GMC's decision had a negative impact on all play-to-earn games, including "Splinterlands" and "Axie Infinity."

AXS, the native token of "Axie Infinity," suffered following the $625 million Ronin bridge hack. As of 3:18 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the crypto asset was trading down 0.81% at $18.65 with a 24-hour volume of $142,818,592 based on the latest data from CoinMarketCap.

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