TAIWAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Jaclyn Tsai, Aaron Chen, Teresa Huang and Jaime Cheng, Lee, Tsai & Partners
Legal Requirements for Age Ratings and Content Restrictions The Game Software Rating Management Regu - lations also require gaming businesses to prom - inently display ratings labels, content descrip - tions and warnings on the product packaging, user’s guide, downloaded page, homepage or link to the game. (a) Ratings labels: Games are categorised into five ratings based on their content, including ele - ments such as sexual themes, violence, terror or drugs: Restricted (“R”, for users aged 18 and above), Parental Guidance 15 (“PG 15”, for users aged 15 and above), Parental Guidance 12 (“PG 12”, for users aged 12 and above), Protected (“P”, for users aged six and above) and General Public (“G”, suitable for all ages). Gaming busi - nesses must complete the rating process before a game is launched and register the rating and related content with the MODA database. (b) Content descriptions: If the game content involves certain scenarios, such as scenarios involving sex, violence, terror, tobacco and alcohol, drugs, improper use of language or anti-social behaviour, the content descriptions regarding the scenarios must be clearly indi - cated. (c) Warnings: Gaming businesses must promi - nently display warning messages in Chinese, including but not limited to: • General warnings: Messages such as “Pay attention to usage time” must be displayed to encourage responsible game play. • Payment warnings: For games requiring pre - paid game points or virtual items or tokens, clear warnings about payment details and any additional costs must be provided.
The gaming industry in Taiwan also faces vari - ous intellectual property protection issue. Please refer to 9.3 Intellectual Property for details. Legal Requirements for Games Providing In-Game Purchases, Loot Boxes and Gambling Elements (a) Games providing in-game purchases: The Online Game Services Provisions require gam - ing businesses to clearly display payment meth - ods and product or service information on their official website homepages, game login pages or purchase pages. Any fee adjustments must be announced at least 30 days prior to imple - mentation. Additionally, prepaid game points purchased by users must not be subject to an expiration date. (b) Games providing value-added services or products: When users purchase prepaid game points for value-added services or products, the Online Game Points Provisions require gaming businesses to provide performance guarantees to ensure the redeemability of the prepaid game points. (c) Games providing loot boxes and gambling- like elements: For games offering loot boxes or similar elements, the Online Game Services Pro - visions require gaming businesses to disclose the event details, rewards and probabilities of winning. Additionally, a warning such as “This is a chance-based item; purchasing does not guarantee specific rewards” must be included. If the game involves gambling-like activities via telecommunications, electronic communica - tions, the internet or similar methods, it may be deemed illegal and subject to criminal liability.
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