South Korea Reverses Ban on Luck be a Landlord Game

TrampolineTales, a one-man studio, has successfully overturned the ban on its mobile game Luck be a Landlord in South Korea. However, the game remains inaccessible in 12 other countries. Luck be a Landlord is a deck-building game that involves earning money to pay rent using a slot machine with customizable symbols, but the developer has consistently argued that it does not simulate real-world gambling or include microtransactions. The game was initially banned in 13 countries by Google for violating its gambling policies, with Apple later following suit. South Korea was a key market for the game, and the developer, Dan DiIorio, made lifting the ban his top priority. To resolve the issue, DiIorio obtained a reclassification from the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) in South Korea, which initially granted the game a 12+ rating, enabling its return to Google Play in January 2024. However, in May 2024, the GRAC re-rated the game as 19+, and DiIorio's attempts to appeal this decision were ignored. Apple support informed DiIorio that the game would be relisted on the iOS App Store in South Korea if he updated the GRAC rating, but this required changing the game's global rating to 17+ for all regions. DiIorio found this condition 'ridiculous' but ultimately complied, allowing the game to become available on the App Store in South Korea once again. He expressed frustration with the situation, citing the use of real-money microtransactions and chance-based mechanics in other games like Genshin Impact and Madden, which have lower age ratings. DiIorio concluded that the experience has stifled his creativity and that his next game will not include any gambling themes, criticizing the ratings boards for their approach to protecting children from gambling addictions.