In 2018, Nexon was caught red-handed in a case of fraudulent loot boxes for its FPS Sudden Attack. A practice which earned them a fine of nearly $888,000 at the time.
But we have to believe that Nexon does not learn from its mistakes or particularly likes to play with fire. Indeed, the publisher has once again been caught by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, a state body responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the market.
On his titles MapleStory And Bubble Fighter, Nexon was once again selling fraudulent loot boxes. Since May 2010, players of the MMO MapleStory can buy lottery tickets at 2000 won each in order to obtain a Cube. These Cubes, supposed to contain all kinds of items and bonuses, then had the same drop rate. But from September 2010, Nexon would have gradually tampered with the drop rates of Cubes, even going so far as to remove the items most sought after by players, without informing them.
A lie which this time will cost the publisher nearly 8.9 million dollars. But while the fine is one of the largest ever imposed for a violation of Korea’s e-commerce consumer protection law, it actually doesn’t mean much to Nexon. Indeed, according to the Korea Economic Daily, more than 550 billion won would have been collected thanks to sales of the famous Cubes between September 2010 and March 2021, or more than 417 million dollars.