Lawsuit withdrawn as Uma Musume problems ironed out

Kakao Games stock soared 11 percent on Friday after users of Uma Musume dropped a class action lawsuit against the mobile game’s publisher on Thursday.

The users suing Uma Musume Pretty Derby withdrew the suit on Thursday from the Seoul Central District Court, 48 days after filing the case on Sept. 23.

The plaintiffs said they had never been after money, but merely wanted to "normalize the game,” according to attorney Lee Cheol-woo, their legal representative.

“Users have been regularly communicating our demands to Kakao Games,” Lee said. “They confirmed that most of these demands have been met and so all participants in the suit agreed to drop the case.”

On the Google Play Store, plenty of comments are supportive of the plaintiffs and the changes made by the publisher, reading “Please keep this up” and “Glad to see you’ve changed.” As of Friday, the game's average rating inched above 3 out of 5, after hitting a low of 1 in September.

The game company’s shares closed at 45,600 won ($35) on Friday, up more than 30 percent compared to Oct. 13's 34,950 won, the lowest price since the company went public in September 2020.

On Sept. 23, 201 users of Uma Musume Pretty Derby filed a class action suit against Kakao Games in the Seoul Central District Court demanding refunds of money they spent on the game. That suit demanded 200,000 won for each plaintiff, or 40.2 million won.

Since early August, players have been criticizing Kakao Games' managing of the game, saying it failed to give proper notice about major events in the game and offered fewer benefits to Korean users compared to Japanese, especially regarding so-called loot boxes.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]