MMORPG defrauds players for 10 years shamelessly with loot boxes – Must now pay record fine

In South Korea, the MMORPG company Nexon has been fined approximately 8.1 million euros. This is the highest fine ever imposed by the responsible commission: The gaming studio had deceived players for 10 years regarding the odds of loot boxes in the MMORPG MapleStory. The chances of some rewards were said to be as low as 0.

What were the accusations against the MMORPG? The responsible commission came to the following conclusion on Wednesday, January 3, 2024 (via kedglobal)

• In the MMORPG MapleStory, loot boxes, called Cubes, were introduced in May 2010. What came out of the loot box was evenly distributed at that time.
• However, in September 2010, the probability structure was changed so that the rewards that players really wanted became rarer. The developers stated in August 2011: Nothing had been changed about the probabilities.
• But between August 2011 and March 2021, the probability structure of the Cubes was even changed so that certain rewards no longer appeared at all.

In addition to the failings in the MMORPG MapleStory, there were also irregularities in the online game “Bubble Fighter,” which were also punished.

Cubes earn nearly 383.5 million € over 10 years for 1.40 €

What amounts are involved? As reported by a Korean site, Nexon earned about 383.5 million euros with the Cubes in the 11 years between September 2010 and March 2021.

A spin on such a Cube costs about 1.40 €. Opening such a loot box is compared to pulling a lever on a one-armed bandit: You pay and do not know in advance whether and if so, what kind of reward you will get.

The fine now amounts to 8.1 million euros.

What does the commission say? The commission that imposed the fine states that the penalty was particularly severe because Nexon had already received a fine for misconduct in the game “Sudden Attack” back in 2018. Cubes are also a core mechanic of MapleStory.

What does Nexon say? Here, it is stated that they humbly accept the fine but reserve the right to appeal the decision or take it to court.

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What stands out? The MMORPG MapleStory was already involved in a scandal regarding drop probabilities in 2021. At that time, it was revealed that a “random algorithm” was not random at all. This was a huge scandal in South Korea: Players fled from the MMORPG and ran to Lost Ark.

At that time, it seemed:

• The company Nexon had no control and overview of its systems in the MMORPG MapleStory.
• For years, there was no transparency.
• When forced by changes in legislation to provide more transparency and had to disclose things like probabilities, it was already too late to correct the mistakes.

The responsible party continuously apologized for embarrassing mistakes at that time.

However, the departing CEO of Nexon recently praised MapleStory highly and emphasized how much money it earns. The scandal from 2021 evidently did not have a sustainable impact on the MMORPG.

How is this being discussed? The story is also being heavily discussed in the West (reddit):

• It is suspected that many more companies operate with such tricks to increase their profits.
• The fine is perceived as too low; it should be much higher.
• Nexon is generally being discussed extremely critically.

More about the big scandal surrounding MapleStory and Nexon from 2021:

Free2Play MMORPG deceives players for years regarding random system, faces serious trouble