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Nexon Korea headquarters (Photo: Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korea’s competition watchdog has launched an on-site investigation into Nexon over alleged irregularities in the sale of paid items in its mobile game MapleStory Idle, industry sources said on February 3.
According to the gaming industry, investigators from the Seoul office of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) were recently dispatched to Nexon’s headquarters to secure materials related to the game’s paid item sales structure and probability disclosures. The probe is aimed at determining whether Nexon may have violated South Korea’s E-Commerce Act during the sale of in-game items.
The controversy centers on a feature that allows users to reset character attributes using paid items, which were advertised as offering a chance to obtain maximum stats. However, it was later alleged that the highest values did not appear for a certain period, despite the stated probabilities.
Nexon acknowledged the error late last month and announced that it would issue full refunds to users for all payments made since the launch of MapleStory Idle. The FTC, however, is reportedly conducting a separate review to assess whether the underlying transaction practices involved deceptive or misleading conduct, regardless of the refund decision.
Article 21 of South Korea’s E-Commerce Act prohibits businesses from engaging in transactions through false representations or deceptive methods. The FTC is said to be examining whether there was a discrepancy between the disclosed probabilities and the game’s actual mechanics, as well as whether Nexon provided adequate information to consumers after becoming aware of the issue.
Nexon has previously faced regulatory sanctions over similar issues. In 2024, the company was fined KRW 11.6 billion by the FTC for deceptive practices related to probability-based items in its flagship game MapleStory. That penalty remains the largest ever imposed under the E-Commerce Act.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
