The production team of an online game has drawn controversy by highlighting the bodies of female characters depicted as children or adolescents and by making remarks that sexualize them on YouTube.

Game company A released the online game B last month and hosted a ‘Developer Live’ broadcast on its official YouTube channel. In the video aired on the 10th of last month, the host introduced a female character and, while zooming in on her body and underwear, made remarks such as “(Seeing the character) it really snaps you to attention” and “Looks like your mouth is watering”. Some of these characters are portrayed to appear like children or adolescents.

In the broadcast on the 24th of last month, the host said that “the (character) body shape (figure) has improved” and broadcast zoomed-in shots under the skirt of a female character. When the bodies and underwear of the characters were magnified on the broadcast, the host laughed, saying “the stream will blow up”. A series of posts containing expressions that overtly sexualized these game characters and screenshots highlighting their bodies and underwear were also uploaded to online communities.

This game is rated 15 and up, so high school students can use it. After confirming this, Tacteen Naeil, a nonprofit association that carries out activities such as sex education for children and adolescents and support for victims of sexual violence, reported this community to the Game Rating and Administration Committee under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 12th.

There is criticism that the production and consumption of games reflecting the misguided perception of eroticizing and sexualizing children and adolescents has become widespread. Jeong Mi-jeong, head of the Tacteen Naeil Counseling Center for Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents, said it was reported because it is “a product reflecting a reality in which sexualization (of children and adolescents) is too easily tolerated,” adding, “Because the game has just been released, we thought precise issue-raising was necessary before it spread further.”

A representative of game company A said, “We apologize to those who felt uncomfortable due to certain wording and staging during the broadcast,” and added, “Going forward, we will communicate with users more carefully, taking into account a wider range of viewer perspectives.” They said they would not take any separate action regarding the video in question. The representative said, “We will keep the existing broadcast, as it includes news about major updates, but in broadcasts to come we plan to approach the overall expressions and presentation methods more cautiously, considering a wider range of viewer perspectives.”