Imposing Tax and Rebate Policy for Addressing Game Addiction Problem

Abstract

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are popular worldwide. Especially in Korea, there were about 19 million gamers in 2006. Some players have become seriously addicted to online games, causing a serious social problem. However, studies and/or trials to address game addiction problems have rarely been performed. In this paper, we discover the relationships among interested parties in the game industry and propose a base model to explain them. From the base model, we can expect that casual gamers increase until some time, but decline afterward. The growth rate of total revenue of online game decreases due to a reduced number of casual gamers over time and a negative image of online games. To resolve game addiction problems, we implemented a self regulation policy and a tax and rebate policy in the base model. After applying the policies, we found that a tax and rebate policy is preferable to a self regulation policy. The total revenues of online gaming increases contrary to the concern of game companies, the social image of online games is improved and the number of game addicts decreases.