Antitrust agency slaps Nexon with $8.9 million fine for misleading users

Nexon's office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi [NEWS1]

Korea's antitrust regulator slapped an 11.6 billion won ($8.9 million) fine on Nexon, the country's largest video game developer and distributor by sales, for misleading its users to purchase in-game items with false information.

The practice violates the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce by soliciting purchases of the so-called loot box items with wrong information, the Fair Trade Commission(FTC) said on Wednesday.

The loot box systems involve in-game lucky draws where players may or may not obtain items to upgrade their characters or get the upper hand in matches.

The games concerned include MapleStory, the company's popular MMORPG, and Bubble Fighter, an online first-person shooter game.

Nexon presented MapleStory players with a wrongful probability of winning a virtual item called Cube, which accounts for 30 percent of the game's entire sales. The company is said to have made users believe they were more likely to win a Cube than they actually were.

The regulator has also issued a corrective measure prohibiting companies from engaging in such practice without informing users.

The fine could be revised down in subsequent proceedings if the Nexon raises a complaint, according to the FTC.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]