Smilegate Hope Studio said on Wednesday it has been selected as a star public-interest corporation after receiving a three-star rating, the highest possible score, across transparency, accountability and financial efficiency in Korea GuideStar’s 2026 evaluation of public-interest corporations.

Hope Studio received perfect scores in all categories for three consecutive years, the only organisation in the games industry to do so in the Korea GuideStar evaluation. Organisations that received perfect scores in all categories in the latest evaluation include Hope Studio, the IBK Happy Sharing Foundation, the Asan Nanum Foundation and the Woori Multicultural Scholarship Foundation.

The evaluation indicators comprise 8 indicators for transparency and accountability and 2 indicators for financial efficiency.

The transparency and accountability evaluation focuses on the level of information disclosure for donors and whether organisational operating rules are in place. The financial efficiency evaluation assesses the efficiency of spending and fundraising based on disclosed materials including settlement documents for public-interest corporations filed with the National Tax Service.

Korea GuideStar is the country’s only private institution that evaluates public-interest corporations and is funded by the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the four largest accounting firms. Since 2017 it has conducted evaluations of public-interest corporations to help transparent and responsible public-interest activities spread across society.

Yeonju Kwon (권연주), a director at Hope Studio, said the result is meaningful in that Hope Studio’s transparent and responsible foundation management was recognised by an external professional evaluation institution. She added that Hope Studio will continue making efforts in various ways to become a donation platform that donors and partner companies can trust.