MDA clarifies scope of Remote Gambling Act
The MDA said the new laws are not a blanket prohibition of all social games. PHOTO: REUTERS
SINGAPORE — The new Remote Gambling Act will not cover games that do not allow players to receive money or exchange game credits for cash prizes, the Media Development Authority (MDA) clarified yesterday, following discussion with 10 industry players, including game developers.
The authority also issued a set of guidelines yesterday spelling out the types of games that do not fall within the Act’s ambit.
The Act, which takes effect on Feb 2,will block websites that provide or promote remote gambling services.
It is designed to curb gambling via the phone and Internet, but had drawn concern from local and international game developers when it was proposed, with many calling for greater clarity on the scope of the laws, for fear that their creations would run afoul of the regulations.
The International Social Games Association — which includes game developers such as Zynga, Slingo and AdZorba Games as members — had raised concerns about the unintended negative impact the laws may have on the global social game industry and Singapore’s technology sector.
It also took issue with definitions of terms such as “money’s worth” and “game of chance”, which it said would “inadvertently encompasses legitimate activities” such as social games FarmVille and Angry Bird.
The ISGA also pointed out that virtually all social games contained the elements of both chance and skill and used in-game currency.
Acknowledging industry concerns, the MDA clarified that the laws are not a blanket prohibition of all social games. “We want to reiterate that the Act will not impede the development of legitimate social games by game developers in Singapore, nor affect their players and business investors,” said its spokesperson.
Among the types of games that will not be prohibited under the laws are online games, which do not have any in-game facility to convert virtual goods and currency into real money.
Games with leaderboards, or reward players with weapons and skills, will also not be affected as long as these rewards cannot be converted into real money or merchandise. Popular social games such as FarmVille and Candy Crush Saga, in their current form, are thus permitted.
The laws also do not prohibit tournaments organised by game developers where players can win real prizes, as long as these are not within casino-styled games and not used as a means to facilitate syndicated criminal activity.
Local game developer Ivan Loo of LamdaMu Games welcomed the clarification. “What constitutes ‘a game of chance’ is not clearly defined in the Act, thus the clarification is helpful in assuring developers and consumers that social games with some element of randomness are not illegal.”
Game developer Witching Hour Studios founder Ian Gregory, however, pointed out that Apple and Google app stores already restrict the exchange of game credits into real currency.
“Most social game apps are downloaded through these stores, so checks and balances (for gambling) were already in place for games that use virtual credits,” he said.
