Nexon executives issued an official apology after a probability-based item setting error in its idle RPG Maple Growing sparked controversy. Nexon acknowledged circumstances suggesting it tried to conceal the incident and said it would impose the highest level of disciplinary action on those responsible.

On Jan. 26, Nexon Korea co-CEOs Dae-hyun Kang (강대현) and Jung-wook Kim (김정욱) posted an apology on the official Maple Growing website, saying, "We sincerely apologise for causing users great disappointment regarding the issue related to the maximum values of ability option within the game."

The controversy stemmed from the Ability system that resets character stats. From shortly after launch on Nov. 6 last year until 6:27 p.m. on Dec. 2, an error prevented the maximum value of certain options from appearing for about a month. An investigation found that at the probability calculation formula-setting stage, the probability of the maximum value appearing was incorrectly entered as "less than" rather than "less than or equal to", making it impossible for that value to appear.

The issue was the response after the error was found. The department in charge recognised the problem on Dec. 2 last year but fixed it without a notice, citing concerns about a loss of trust early in the service. During that process, it also gave answers that were different from the facts to users raising suspicions. This amounts to what is known as a "submarine patch", a covert fix without notifying users.

Nexon management learned of the matter belatedly on Jan. 25. The two co-CEOs said, "Because of the structural characteristics of collaborating with an external developer, a real-time probability monitoring system was not applied, and initial detection was delayed." Nexon defined the matter as a serious issue that betrayed trust and said it would take tough disciplinary measures, including dismissal, against those responsible.

It also announced compensation measures. It will refund 100 percent of any Medals of Honor used during the error period, and will pay blue diamonds equal to 200 percent of the amount of paid-purchase currency and Ability Pass purchases. For all users, it will provide 100,000 Medals of Honor, 50 Miracle Cubes, 100 Star Force Enhancement Scrolls and 3,000,000 mesos.

The two co-CEOs said, "If trust is undermined in the future, we will establish a principle of providing the maximum level of compensation that exceeds the costs投入."