December 04, 2024

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Lee Cheol-woo, a lawyer and head of the Korean Game User Association, speaks to reporters in front of the Supreme Court in Seoul on Thursday. (Korean Game Press Corps)

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a gamer who filed a lawsuit against Korean game developer Nexon for deceptively promoting the percentage of a loot box item in MapleStory, the mega-hit online game.

The nation’s top court confirmed Thursday the appeals court ruling that ordered Nexon to give back 5 percent of the money a gamer surnamed Kim had spent on loot box items in the role-playing game Maple Story.

It is the first time a court has sided with a gamer in a legal battle over in-game loot boxes.

The lawsuit began when Nexon was accused of deceptively changing the drop rates -- or the odds of receiving certain items -- in purchasable in-game loot boxes in MapleStory. News that it had provided false information about them surfaced in 2021.

Kim went to the district court, seeking a refund of the 11 million won ($7,879) he spent on the game from Nexon. The district eventually ruled in favor of the company. Kim then proceeded to take his case to the appeals court.

The appeals court ruled in January last year that Nexon should refund 570,000 won, about 5 percent of the requested amount, judging a partial win for the plaintiff. For the reason behind the ruling, the appeals court said that Nexon’s actions were “intentional and active fraudulent behavior that induced, stimulated and neglected users' gambling psychology and obsession with sunk costs."

The appeals court, however, noted the fact that Kim had changed the amount detailed in his claims multiple times and continued purchasing the loot boxes during the litigation.

“The lawsuit began against a game company and a large law firm due to a personal reason, but I hope (my case) can set standards for the overall gaming industry,” said Kim.

Lee Cheol-woo, the lawyer who represented Kim, pointed out that the Supreme Court’s ruling will be an important standard of judgment for many game companies’ in-game item draw rates, as it is a final legal decision on the issue.

“Nexon has accepted the class action dispute mediation by the Korea Consumer Agency in a similar case and is offering compensations for the gamers who did not apply for the dispute mediation,” said Nexon.

“We will continue to do our best to restore the trust of users and offer better gaming services moving forward.”

In September, Nexon accepted the KCA’s recommendation to compensate the users of MapleStory who were damaged by the game’s loot box controversy. The estimated number of users subject to compensation was estimated at about 800,000 and the amount of compensated in-game cash equaled about 21.9 billion won.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)