Consumer Agency, Nexon Decide 1.1 Billion Won Compensation for Victims of 'Probability-Based Items'

Cash Refundable Nexon Cash Provided
Total Compensation of 1.1 Billion KRW for Dispute Resolution Applicants
Compensation Reaches 21.7 Billion KRW if Paid to All Users

It has been decided that Nexon Korea must provide Nexon Cash, which can be refunded in cash, to consumers who suffered damages from probability-based paid items in the online game 'MapleStory'.

The Korea Consumer Agency's Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee announced on the 14th that it made this decision regarding the collective dispute mediation application related to the probability manipulation of MapleStory paid items (Red Cube and Black Cube). The compensation amount is 3.1% of the Red Cube usage amount and 6.6% of the Black Cube usage amount. If established, Nexon must pay Nexon Cash equivalent to about 1.1 billion KRW in cash to 5,674 applicants (excluding those whose item usage could not be confirmed).

The committee explained that this decision was made considering that Nexon did not properly notify users of the probabilities of probability-based items and arbitrarily changed them, resulting in corrective orders and heavy fines from the Fair Trade Commission. Additionally, when calculating the compensation amount, 70% of the amount Nexon voluntarily compensated in May 2021 was deducted to encourage voluntary compensation by the business operator.

This mediation decision will have the effect of a settlement if Nexon accepts it. The committee plans to recommend Nexon submit a compensation plan if accepted, so that the same effect applies to consumers who did not participate in the collective dispute mediation. The committee explained that if Nexon compensates all users (about 800,000 people), the compensation amount is estimated to reach 21.7 billion KRW, the largest since the system was introduced.

Chairman Byeon Woong-jae said, "I hope this mediation decision will be a good precedent that protects the rights and interests of game consumers and achieves substantial relief of rights," and added, "I also hope Nexon will restore consumer trust through this collective dispute mediation case and contribute further to the development of the Korean game industry." The committee plans to allow applicants to check their compensation amounts and decision details through the Consumer Agency website.

Earlier, the Fair Trade Commission ordered corrective measures and imposed a fine of about 11.6 billion KRW on Nexon earlier this year, stating that Nexon initially set the appearance probabilities of cube options evenly but changed the probability structure from September 2010 so that popular options with high preference appeared less frequently. Subsequently, the Consumer Agency began recruiting applicants for collective dispute mediation to provide relief to individual consumers. As a result, 5,773 applicants were recruited, and the committee decided to initiate the collective dispute mediation procedure. The collective dispute mediation procedure is initiated when 50 or more consumers suffer the same or similar types of damage under the Framework Act on Consumers.