South Korean game makers face massive fine for loot box controversy

Nexon has been involved with the development of titles such as Counter-Strike Online and Mabinogi. (Source: Massively Overpowered)

Three South Korean video-game developers have been severely punished by the country’s Fair Trade Commission in regard to the use of loot boxes in some of their games. Nexon, Netmarble, and NextFloor are the companies facing fines totaling the equivalent of US$945,000. The fines were imposed because of an apparent lack of information offered by the firms involved.

by Daniel R Deakin, 2018/04/09

A new loot-box controversy has come to light recently. The South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to fine three game developers because of their specific loot-box implementation. The three companies, Nexon, Netmarble and NextFloor, have been punished to the tune of roughly US$945,000. Nexon alone has been fined US$882,000 for apparently not informing its customers of the correct odds of collecting 16 puzzle pieces found in loot boxes in its game Sudden Attack.

The FTC claimed that the chances of receiving a piece of the puzzle during a special "Celebrity Count" event were 0.5%, with one player spending a reported 460,000 won (~US$430) just to complete the puzzle. The fines were issued because the companies apparently failed to inform customers of the true odds of winning what they needed from loot boxes. With countries like Belgium and Germany also taking a closer look at how loot boxes are currently being implemented, it seems that game developers around the world are going to have to carefully consider how they utilize this particular form of microtransaction in future to avoid this type of punishment.

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