Nexon-published 2D brawler Dungeon Fighter Online is closing its doors on June 13 after a bumpy run with bots, hackers, and Nexon’s own terrible game support.
This is one of the few instances where I’m not afraid of the backlash in calling out a publisher for being incompetent. Nexon’s reputation precedes itself, with the company being known for treating its customers like dirt and leaving its games to rot until they can claim said games are no longer profitable. That is what happened here with Dungeon Fighter Online.
In DFO‘s relatively short life here in North America, Nexon has sent out at least two huge ban waves banning legitimate players they mistook for bots. Most of these bans were never revoked, though a small number have been given reprieve just recently. Nexon themselves murdered the game’s core and PvP communities, and their legendary customer support would not admit mistakes had been made.
The Kicker
The game stopped receiving updates over six months ago, shortly after Min Kim took over as CEO in North America. A free to play MMO that receives no updates of any kind is not going to be making money.
Dungeon Fighter Online has done spectacularly in every Asian territory it has been released. The gameplay is skill-based, allowing players to set up their skills like combos from fighting games. Sure, the PvP might not be balanced but that could be fixed with balance patches and removing the peer to peer aspect of the game’s multiplayer and making player connections server-side (this was a big issue).
DFO is a unique entity among the MMORPG landscape. Sure, it’s a bit grindy — but that can be overlooked for the flexible and absolutely addictive fighter-style combat system. That is what makes it a success elsewhere, and that is what makes its playerbase so dedicated here in North America.
If this is how Nexon is going to be handling its North American division under Min Kim, let’s see where Mabinogi and Combat Arms are in a year. Both of those games are full of gamebreaking bugs, bots, and hackers. I wouldn’t bet on them surviving much longer.
Goodbye, Dungeon Fighter Online. I’m sorry it had to be this way.
Love,
An Ex-DFO Player
