With the cancellation of the Fate Grand Order New Year event, a popular mobile game serviced by Netmarble, users are protesting whether Netmarble has succumbed to pressure from Japanese game maker Delight.
From the 1st, the Fate Grand Order presented goods every time a user logs in. Netmarble canceled the Start Dash login bonus campaign from the 4th without notice. Two days later, an apology was announced on the 6th, but users burst into resentment. Since Netmarble is only a Korean distributor, it was a protest that the campaign was canceled under pressure from the distributor, Sony’s subsidiary Anyplex, and developer Delight.
In an apology released on the 6th, Netmarble said it had identified the problem through an external channel, but did not disclose the specific reason for the suspension of the campaign. Netmarble’s public relations team avoided an immediate reply, saying, “I am aware of the current situation,” and “I cannot tell you about the issue of the publishing (game distribution) contract.”
Several users protested that it was discrimination against Korean servers. From the 2nd in Japan, a tweet saying that goods compensation will be gathered on the Korean server became a hot topic. Because of this, speculation that distributors Anyplex and Delight would have exerted pressure on Netmarble became widespread among Korean users. Contrary to the tweet in question, there is an allegation that netmarble’s fate grand order has been missing a significant amount of goods compensation. Netmarble has provided the Start Dash campaign, which was only provided to new users, to existing users to ensure fairness in rewards for goods.
Whatever the reason, after the apology was announced, the Fate Grand Order rating on the Google Play Store dropped from 4.3 to 1.0. A user who revealed billing details worth tens of millions of won released a video of deleting a game account in protest.
User Lee ○○ (25) stressed, “If Netmarble correctly explained and said’I’m sorry we have no power to solve the situation’, I would not have blamed Netmarble.” Mr. Lee said, “Netmarble apologized six months ago. He said he would never do this again.” “What we want is not a reward. It is not to ask to return the missing goods.”
On the 8th, Netmarble said, “It is the decision of Netmarble, the operating entity, to stop the Start Dash campaign. This campaign targets new users, and in Korea, existing users also benefited. For the same service of the Fate Grand Order being served abroad, it was decided that it would be appropriate to maintain the existing direction of the campaign and stopped.”
An official from Netmarble said, “As you are concerned, there is no discrimination against Korean services. Korean service is based on the same content as the original service. Some campaigns that have not been conducted in Korea are provided with bonuses through other campaigns so that there is no significant difference in compensation.
However, it is still unclear whether the controversy over the fate grand order will be resolved.
This is Kwon Chan-wook, the Consumer Economic Daily.