Nexon fined $8.9m for misleading MapleStory players
Penalty is highest amount given for violating South Korea's Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce
Nexon has been fined ₩11.6 million ($8.9 million) by the Korea Fair Trade Commission for allegedly neglecting to inform customers about probability changes to in-game items in MapleStory.
As The Korea Economic Daily reported, this is the highest amount imposed for a company violating the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce in South Korea.
The South Korean antitrust body alleged Nexon lowered the probability of drawing in-game items known as Cubes, which players pay an estimated ₩2,000 ($1.50) to draw, without informing players of the change.
Nexon initially set an equal probability for these items to appear in May 2010, but subsequently changed this in September so popular Cubes would "appear less frequently."
These terms were changed again between August 2011 and March 2021, which the KFTC alleged was done without Nexon notifying customers. The publisher subsequently published a notice in August 2011 that there had been no changes to MapleStory's probability structure.
"We imposed the largest fine because the Cube is a core product of MapleStory, the period of the violation is long and this is the second violation following Sudden Attack," said Kim Jung-ki, director of the market surveillance department of the KFTC.
Nexon was previously fined ₩944.5 million ($722,189) for loot box practices in shooter Sudden Attack back in 2018, alongside Netmarble which was fined ₩60 million ($45,877).
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