Nexon Fined Nearly $9 Million By Korean Regulators Over Misleading Users on MapleStory, Other Lootbox Odds
Nexon has to pay Korean officials for misleading players over lootboxes, according to a new report. The company ran into trouble with antitrust regulators in South Korea that found them guilty of violating the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce Act.
The company is accused of misleading players with false odds for winning certain items from loot boxes they could purchase. Games involved included Nexon’s long-running classic MMORPG MapleStory and their FPS, Bubble Fighter. In MapleStory , the stated odds of getting a Cube from a loot box were misleading, which likely led to some taking a chance and purchasing the lootboxes, thinking their chance of a win was much better than it actually was.
The regulatory body has issued a new rule that forbids companies from doing misleading things like this without informing players of the real chances.
A report on the matter comes from Korea JoongAng Daily (h/t MMOBomb) and lists the fine the company has to pay as 11.6 billion won, which amounts to about $8.9 USD. It’s not a large sum of money, and Nexon has a chance to try and reduce it even further by filing a request that serves as an appeal.
There’s no word on whether the company will decide to do that or pay the fine. Still, lootboxes and live service titles are the norm, and the discourse over them is clearly here to stay. Regulators have tried in multiple countries to regulate or even ban lootboxes.Diablo Immortal didn't release in several countries that had banned them. Recently, China proposed regulations that would ban gacha and even daily login campaigns, but they reversed course after some of the industry’s largest companies suffered stock drops.
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