Anyone who wants to play Minecraft must be 19 years old. At least in South Korea. A law and Microsoft are currently causing players to take to the streets.
If you think of a video game that appeals to all age groups and is especially suitable for children, many will instinctively have Minecraft in mind. After all, the game offers extreme creativity, has child-friendly graphics, and is generally quite harmless. This should be the case worldwide – one would think. Not so in South Korea. There, Minecraft can only be played if you are 19 years or older.
What happened? In South Korea, Minecraft players have been informed that they will need to create an Xbox Live account if they want to continue to access Minecraft. The catch: Xbox Live is only permitted in South Korea for those 19 and older.
Why is this only happening now? In South Korea, there is the so-called “Cinderella Law”, which prohibits children under 16 from playing online video games between midnight and 6:00 AM. Despite this law, it has been possible to log in through the Mojang account (from the Minecraft developer) and thus circumvent this restriction.
This is particularly absurd since Minecraft was classified as “12+” by the South Korean equivalent of the USK.
Microsoft had already begun converting Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts some time ago. Therefore, these now fall under new rules – and so does Minecraft, which can now only be legally played by adults in South Korea.
A petition aims to change this: South Korean players are quite upset about the new rules and have even started a petition. It expresses concern that “South Korea will be the only country in the world where Minecraft is considered a game for adults.” This is particularly absurd since “Minecraft is seen as the epitome of educational and creative games.” The petition has already gathered over 91,500 signatures within a few days – it seems some players want a change (via gamesindustry.biz).
That Minecraft is classified for ages 19 and up is somewhat peculiar – but sometimes the laws in individual countries are indeed strange and create curious exceptions.
