Dungeon Fighter Online is the largest MMORPG in the world and especially popular in Asia. However, there is a scandal, as a developer has generated items using the admin tools and even earned real money from it.
What exactly did the developer do? From the Korean version from 2020 until November 2022, he repeatedly generated items and sent them to a private account. He then sold these items to NPC merchants and exchanged the received gold for real money through illegal means in real-money trading.
The sum involved is around 7 trillion gold. Converted, that gold was worth 2 million US dollars.
However, it is unclear how much of it was actually sold. In court, the accused stated that he only got rid of a portion of the total gold.
Why did we only find out about it in August? According to Live Director Jong Min Park, legal action was taken immediately in November 2022 – as soon as they became aware of the situation. However, for legal reasons, they could not comment publicly on it.
Because the accused admitted the act in August 2023, they could speak openly about it.
Developer only used items from older content patches to hide his actions
Why did the fraud go unnoticed for so long? In the forum, it is stated that the economic situation in the game is constantly monitored. However, the perpetrator generated items from old content and did so only in tiny quantities and very regularly.
This way, it went unnoticed that he was cheating and generating gold.
What are the consequences of the action? On one hand, the former Live Director was fired and Jong Min Park took over his job in August 2023.
On the other hand, the players of Dungeon Fighter Online received a few items as compensation, with which the developers want to apologize for the incident.
What happens to the offender? He already lost his job and his account in Dungeon Fighter Online in November.
Moreover, the first day of the trial took place on October 16. Although the evidence is said to be clear, there is still a point of contention. It is still unclear how much money he really made from the fraud.
According to MMORPG.com.pl, he could face a prison sentence of up to 7 years if he really sold the total gold for 2.7 million dollars. However, if the amount is significantly lower, the sentence will be adjusted accordingly.
The sale of gold is a much-discussed topic. According to the terms of service, it is prohibited in almost all MMORPGs. Nevertheless, in some countries, it is even more lucrative to farm gold than to work. We have reported on a case here:
Dungeon Fighter Online was even the world’s most successful PC game for a while
How big is the MMORPG really? Since its release in 2005, Dungeon Fighter Online has generated over 20 billion dollars in revenue and has over 850 million registered users. For comparison:
- WoW generated about 9.23 billion dollars from 2004 to 2017, SWTOR made about 1 billion dollars from 2011 to 2020.
- Final Fantasy XIV has 27 million registered players according to its own offers, Guild Wars 2 has around 18 million.
Dungeon Fighter Online is thus many times larger than the well-known MMORPGs in the West.
In 2019, it was even the most successful PC game in the world.
