Nexon, a Korean game publisher, is facing a hefty fine of 11.6 billion won, equivalent to about $8.85 million. The penalty stems from the company’s sneaky move of messing with the drop rates of items and loot boxes in games like MapleStory and Bubble Fighter without giving players a heads-up. This has apparently been going on since 2010.
The Korean Fair Trade Commission revealed that Nexon slyly altered the item drop rates in its games, sometimes reducing certain items to a 0% chance of showing up in loot boxes and other gacha features. What’s worse, Nexon didn’t bother telling players about these changes.
They even went so far as to deny making any alterations, aiming to trick customers with false information. In 2020, a whopping 28% of MapleStory’s 560 billion won in sales came from in-game purchases.
Although Nexon has admitted to the wrongdoing and apologized to its customers, they’re considering challenging the decision. They argue that, at the time, the company wasn’t obligated to reveal probability information.
Nexon, known in the West for games like Blue Archive, Dave the Diver, and MapleStory, is also responsible for the global release of Dynasty Warriors M, a mobile game that hit the scenes late last year.
In the end, the Korean Fair Trade Commission is slapping Nexon with a 11.6 billion won fine for shady business practices and violating the Electronic Commerce Consumer Protection Act.
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