South Korea: government-mandated GameGuard / nProtect across nearly every MMO. Aggressive HWID enforcement, kernel mode, fast ban turnaround. Korean anti-cheats are among the most paranoid in the world.
Japan: more relaxed. NetEase and Square Enix lean on lighter anti-cheats. Some titles still ship without HWID-banning at all — only software signature checks.
China: unique landscape. Tencent ACE is the dominant anti-cheat across local games, with kernel mode + HWID + face-recognition for accounts under 18. Beyond Westerners' typical experience.
Practical takeaway: if you play Korean MMOs (Lost Ark, ArcheAge, BDO Korea), keep your HWID hygiene at a higher level than for Western titles. We have a separate guide for the Korean reality.