It was revealed that an internal employee of Smilegate leaked in-game information and undisclosed update details from the MMORPG 'Road Nine' to the outside. The operations team announced the matter on the official homepage on the 27th, stating that the individual involved would be excluded from work and a compensation plan for users would be implemented.
'Road Nine' is a lineage-like massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Smilegate Megaport over a period of approximately four years, officially released in 2024. It emphasizes battles between factions and player-versus-player (PVP) content centered around rival guilds, rapidly securing a user base immediately after launch.
According to the investigation results, it was confirmed that an employee of Smilegate Megaport transmitted information accessible for work purposes to an external acquaintance via personal messaging apps. This information was then shared among guilds and was used strategically.
The issue was first identified on March 23 through a tip to the customer service center, and after an internal investigation, the leak was officially confirmed on March 26. Smilegate immediately excluded the implicated employee from project duties and is currently conducting additional disciplinary procedures in accordance with internal regulations. An investigation was conducted on the accounts that received the leaked information ('Chicken Teriyaki') and related accounts, resulting in permanent sanctions.
The leaked update information included details regarding a new item series called 'Black Energy' and balance adjustments for certain characters, with some users who obtained the information in advance unfairly profiting by purchasing items beforehand. The investigation confirmed pre-transaction records from a total of five accounts, with purchases occurring in at least four cases, totaling up to 14. The average transaction price was approximately 58 diamonds, and related profits will be reclaimed.
Additionally, the overlaps in the viewing times of specific user character information through the operational tool and the death records of those users led to a total of nine users being deemed to have died unfairly an average of seven times. As basic compensation, 50,000 time shards, 5 million gold, and 50 enhancement fragments will be awarded to the affected users, with additional compensation based on PVP death counts.
To all users, as a gesture of apology, one master upgrade certificate was distributed en masse at 9:20 p.m. on the 27th. Smilegate stated, "We deeply reflect on the issues that arose due to inadequate internal controls, and we will do our utmost to strengthen the management system to prevent recurrence."