Nexon, the publisher behind MapleStory and Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders, has apologised for what they describe as a “serious breach of trust” and announced that it’s offering MapleStory: Idle RPG players full refunds for all in-game purchases made since the game’s release.
MapleStory: Idle RPG, a free-to-play mobile spin-off of Nexon’s chibi-style MMORPG MapleStory, raked in a reported $100 million in in-game purchases within the first 45 days of its release on November 6, 2026.
That impressive number may have a little something to do with “a systematic deception” discovered by one player on the r/MapleIdle subreddit earlier last week, on January 23.
The self-described “whale” revealed that they’d spent roughly $8,500 on MapleStory: Idle RPG, and discovered that “the game lies” to players when upgrading two in-game stats, Attack Speed and Combat Power. These stats could be upgraded through MapleStory: Idle RPG’s pay-to-win gacha system, but paying money to do so often led to a “0% actual damage increase,” even though an in-game message would state otherwise.
Since then, other players have reported finding other deceptive (or otherwise incorrectly coded) gacha mechanics in the game. Worse still, players reported that Nexon had fixed some of the gacha-related inconsistencies without informing players afterwards, or compensating them.
On January 26, Nexon Korea’s co-CEOs, Daehyun Kang and Jungwook Kim, made an official announcement on the MapleStory: Idle RPG noticeboard apologising to players “for the great disappointment caused to our users.” The notice states that Nexon “will take all disciplinary actions against the manager responsible” for not transparently informing players of what they describe as a coding “error.” This includes the aforementioned manager’s “termination of employment.”
In a separate notice, Nexon Korea announced that players can now apply for a full refund on “all products purchased” in MapleStory: Idle RPG “from the service launch on November 6, 2025, until the posting of full refund announcement on January 28, 2026.” However, the same notice also states that applying for said refund will result in your account being banned, in accordance with Nexon’s “existing service policies.” “MapleStory: Idle RPG will continue to make every effort to regain the trust of Maplers,” the notice concludes.
This isn’t the first (or the second) time that Nexon has been forced to refund players for deceptively advertised gacha mechanics, as South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered them to partially repay one MapleStory player for “intentional and active fraudulent behavior that induced and exploited users’ gambling psychology” in November 2024.