Ha Tae-kyung: "Manipulating Game Item Probabilities Is a Nationwide Fraud... A Parliamentary-Level Investigation Is Needed"

Rep. Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party is questioning at the National Assembly National Defense Committee's audit held on October 8 last year at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out that "a fact-finding investigation at the National Assembly level should probably begin" regarding suspicions of 'probability manipulation' in online game items.

On the 27th, Ha stated through his social networking service (SNS), "I will initiate a fact-finding investigation at the National Assembly level into a major incident in online gaming over the past 10 years," adding, "They advertised the online game option probabilities as random, but when opened, it was not random."

He continued, "Today, I received a report about the recent probability manipulation incident in Nexon's online game," and said, "After hearing all the details, the core nature of this case was a nationwide fraud through false advertising."

He further emphasized, "The more serious problem is that this false advertising fraud encompasses almost all games," and "The number of victims includes all South Korean citizens who enjoy online games. It is at least in the millions."

Ha stated, "Depending on individual game users, the fraud damage ranges from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won, and the company likely accumulated astronomical fraudulent profits," adding, "Considering the extensive scope of victims and the astronomical amount of damage, this matter should probably be investigated at the National Assembly level."

Ha also said, "I will ensure that the perpetrators of the fraud pay the appropriate price. Furthermore, fair compensation will be provided to the victims."

Earlier, on the 18th, Nexon's game 'MapleStory' faced controversy over item probability manipulation within the game. The 'Flame of Reincarnation' item, which was described as having 'additional options assigned randomly,' was found not to be functioning properly.

Since MapleStory was released in 2003 and has a solid user base as a long-standing game, users' disappointment grew even stronger. Users protested with slogans such as 'Zero Limit Challenge' and 'Boycott Nexon,' and some even moved to similar alternative games.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.