Developers of an online game have sparked controversy on YouTube by highlighting the bodies of female characters depicted to look like children or teenagers and making remarks that sexualized them.

Company A released the online game B last month and ran a ‘Developer Live’ broadcast on its official YouTube channel. In the video aired on the 10th of last month, the host, while introducing a female character, made remarks such as “(Seeing the character) it really wakes you up” and “Looks like you are drooling,” while zooming in on the character body and underwear. Some of these characters are depicted to appear like children or teenagers.

In the broadcast on the 24th of last month, the host said that “(of the character) body shape (figure) has been improved,” and zoomed in under the skirt of a female character. When the character body and underwear were magnified and exposed on the broadcast, the host laughed, saying, “The stream is going to blow up.” Posts containing overtly sexualizing expressions and screenshots that highlighted the characters bodies and underwear were also repeatedly uploaded to online communities.

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This game is rated for ages 15 and up, so high school students can use it. After confirming this, the non-profit organization ‘Tacteen Naeil’, which engages in sex education for children and adolescents and supports 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.

Criticism has emerged that this is the result of widespread game production and consumption reflecting misguided perceptions that eroticize and sexually objectify children and adolescents. Jeong Mi-jeong, head of the Tacteen Naeil Child and Adolescent Sexual Violence Counseling Center, said it is “a product of a reality in which the sexualization (of children and adolescents) is too readily tolerated,” adding that, as the game has just launched, “we believed it was necessary to raise the issue accurately before it spreads further.”

A representative of Company A said, “We apologize to those who felt uncomfortable due to certain expressions and direction during the broadcast,” and added, “We will communicate with users more carefully in the future, taking into account a wider range of viewer perspectives.” The company said it would not take separate action regarding the videos in question. The representative said, “We will keep the existing broadcasts, including updates on major patches, but in future broadcasts we plan to take a more cautious approach to expressions and the overall hosting style, considering a wider range of viewer perspectives.”