Nexon pledges to fix EA Sports FIFA Online 4

South Korean game company Nexon said Thursday it will fix the faulty system of its online PC soccer game “EA Sports FIFA Online 4” in a move to sooth users that have warned of boycott.

Nexon will readjust the system designed to benefit newly released game characters, which consequently brought down the price of existing game characters, drawing a barrage of criticisms from users who had faced depreciation.

Currently, FIFA Online 4 operates under a “payroll system.” To play a ranked game, a user must form a team of eleven field players and seven substitute players that meets 185 payroll gap. Typically, players with greater abilities have higher payrolls.

However, Nexon nullified its own system by introducing “Loyal Hero” game characters on March 26, releasing characters with higher abilities but with the same or lower payrolls than existing players. For example, Loyal Hero Cristiano Ronaldo has 100 abilities but have the same payroll with previous versions of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Nexon immediately faced fury from users as the value of their game characters plummeted following the release of Loyal Hero players.

Nexon said it will adjust the payroll system for Loyal Hero game characters and provide compensations to users who have already purchased Loyal Hero characters through its update next Tuesday.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)