The developer behind famous game series such as MapleStory, FIFA Online 4, Blue Archive,… has just been fined a large sum of money for in-game fraud.
 Honkai: Star Rail – Robin character information at Penacony revealed
Recently, leaker Honkai: Star Rail Dimbreath has just revealed interesting information about the land of Penacony in the upcoming version 2.0,… |
 Conquer the sparkling fantasy world with virtual pets in Luna Saga
Luna Saga, a promising MMORPG for gamers who love adventure and raising virtual pets, is inspired by… |
According to reports from Korean Times and Business Korea, Nexon is being fined about 8.85 million USD (about 11.6 billion won, 220 billion Vietnamese dong). The reason given is because this developer is accused of intentionally lowering the drop probability of some items in the loot box of the game MapleStory. This has caused players to have a very low chance of receiving rare items, leading to them having to spend more to be able to own the desired items.
 |
Nexon’s Fraudulent Practices
According to the KFTC’s ruling, Nexon has engaged in fraudulent practices for more than 10 years, since 2010. In particular, this developer intentionally lowered the loot box rate of some items to almost zero. This has caused players to no longer have the opportunity to receive rare items in a fair and transparent manner. The findings were published based on internal documents obtained from Nexon.
 |
The largest fine ever
KFTC said: “Nexon has announced hundreds of changes in the game from 2010 to 2021, however, they deliberately omitted information about adjusting loot box rates.” The Commission’s assessment is that the company had the intention of attracting customers by providing them with false information and using it for fraudulent purposes. This is the largest fine ever for this type of violation.
 |
The fact that Nexon was fined this large amount of money has caused many impacts not only on the company but also on the Korean gaming industry in general. One of the biggest effects is players’ loss of trust in transparency and fairness in video games. Many gamers have expressed disappointment and opposition to Nexon defrauding players, and are concerned that other companies may engage in similar behavior.
 |
The fact that Nexon was fined nearly 9 million USD was a big shock to the Korean gaming industry and the gaming community. This has caused many people to question transparency and fairness in video games. However, this also poses many valuable lessons for developers and gamers, helping the gaming industry grow and become more sustainable in the future.
