'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgf/2gAIAQEAAAAAio//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAECEAAAAD//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAEDEAAAAC//xAAdEAACAQQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMAEiExBFFy/9oACAEBAAE/ABzkjK2RqxkG3UErnY6OKYRXG5c+a//EABURAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABB/9oACAECAQE/AK//xAAXEQEAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAIR/9oACAEDAQE/ALGE/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The South Korean government is passing a law which will be effective in 6 months, to make video game boosting illegal.
What is boosting?
Boosting is a paid service where players can pay a company or group of individuals to grind on their accounts, leveling them much faster and improving their online competitive ranks. Boosting has been a known problem for participants in esports tournaments in Dota 2, League of Legends, CS: GO and more for some time.
Why is boosting a problem?
Account boosting is a shortcut method to improve your own rank without any of the efforts. It hinders the ability of players who organically reach these ranks. Account boosters can also prevent other players from qualifying from tournaments by cheating their way up.
The South Korean ‘ACT ON THE PUNISHMENT OF ALTERNATIVE GAME ACT’
The South Korean government is passing a bill to penalize boosters. The penalty for boosting is imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won which converts to about $18,000 USD.
“Most of the popular games are suffering from professional dealer game companies. It has been a cancer that hurts the esports ecosystem as well as the casual gamers as well as the general users. But now that the amendment has been passed, it will help to create a healthy esports ecosystem.” – Lee Sang-sup, South Korean Representative
What does this mean for eSports?
There were never any penalties for boosting prior to this in any country. With esports being a fairly new and growing phenomenon, bigger organizations and offices are noticing the esports scene and to practice fairly with game developers and hosts.
It was not as simple as banning accounts since boosted accounts can be made newly and in good numbers. Some players have been caught in esports tournaments such as League of Legends, where the players were banned from the tournament but had a challenging time imposing penalties
