The number of Korea's gaming companies more than halved in 2014 from five years earlier due to a series of intensified governmental regulations, including a ban on minors' access to online games late at night, data showed Tuesday.

According to the data compiled by the Korea Economic Research Institute, game-related firms numbered 14,000 in 2014, compared with 30,000 in 2009, with their combined workforce shedding 5.6 percent to 87,281.

"Korea is the world's No. 4 player in the gaming industry. Despite its high profitability, and the fact that it takes up more than half of the country's contents exports, the industry is facing a crisis," the institute said. "Excessive regulations are weighing down on growth."

Industry watchers said the plunge is attributable to the government's "mandatory shut-down" policy, which limits the youth's access to games.

Under the policy, gaming service operators are obliged to ban the access of those aged below 16 from midnight to 6:00 a.m. The policy was first implemented in 2011 by the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also operates its own shut-down policy, which allows parents to request the operators to control the access time of their children aged below 18.

"The mandatory shut-down violates basic legal rights," the institute said. "The policy is already considered to be ineffective in China and Taiwan."

In 2005, the Chinese government described online games as "electronic heroin" and rolled out regulative measures, until it gave more leeway to gaming companies in 2010 as such moves turned out to be ineffective. (Yonhap)