South Korea has criminalised the act of “boosting” another player’s in-game account.

Boosting involves gaining access to another player’s account, often for money, to grind out wins and artificially boost their stats. So-called Surrogate Players have become something of an industry in the country, where competitive gaming is hugely popular.

The law will affect all games but is set to primarily affect popular games like League of Legends, StarCraft, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Polygon reports that once the new law takes effect in six months time, offenders will be fined up to $18,000 (KRW 20 million) and face a suspended prison sentence. The law prohibits

“Boosters are already suppressed within League of Legends, but this law will help us catch them even better once it’s passed,” said Riot Games, in a statement to Esports TV & News Network.

South Korean representative Lee Sang-sup clarified the problem to the outlet and commented: “Most of the popular games are suffering from professional dealer game companies. It has been a cancer that hurts the esports ecosystem as well as the casual gamers as well as the general users.

“But now that the amendment has been passed, it will help to create a healthy esports ecosystem.”