Through a Developer's Note published on the official website on Thursday, September 17, 'GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE' apologized for its handling of recent cheater responses and announced plans to overhaul its verification and sanction systems.
The issue arose during the ranking settlement for the Solo Raid 'Luxurious Spider,' when abnormal battle data was detected on certain accounts. Investigations, sanctions, and subsequent notices regarding the affected accounts followed.
In the Developer's Note on September 17, Director Hyungsuk Yoo stated, "We failed to handle the recent cheating incidents and our subsequent response swiftly, nor were we able to explain the situation to you quickly and accurately." He added that the team fell short of fulfilling its responsibility to properly verify and act on violations, and acknowledged that explanations regarding how reports and appeals were reviewed and processed were also lacking.
He emphasized that the team views this matter not merely as an issue of rankings and rewards, but as a breach of trust regarding the time, effort, and confidence players have invested in game management. Director Yoo also stated his commitment to looking deeper into the actual live game environment and the response process following incidents, going beyond content development.
Measures to prevent recurrence were also disclosed. First, data recorded in battle logs will be expanded, and the verification logic utilizing this data will be enhanced for both automated and manual verification. Standards for judging and penalizing major offenses—such as mouse macros and input automation, account sharing or pilot play in competitive content, and malicious exploitation of in-game anomalies—will be refined more clearly. Depending on the severity of the violation, account restrictions of up to 10 years may be applied.
Reporting and appeal processes will also be improved. For in-game reports, processing results will be communicated via registered email once the review is complete. When an appeal is received, related records will be re-verified. For matters requiring further confirmation, designated personnel will conduct manual verification to re-examine both the original determination and newly submitted details.
Collaboration between Shift Up and the NIKKE Operations Team under Level Infinite will also be strengthened. They promised to jointly review issues and feedback submitted through the game, community channels, and customer support, actively sharing and reviewing relevant information on necessary matters.
Past competitive records and cases will not be excluded from verification simply because they belong to the past. However, since re-checking all past competitive content and cases from scratch presents practical limitations, additional reviews will proceed based on priorities set by available records, data, and the severity of the issue.
Some technical enhancements, such as expanded battle logs and reinforced security detection and macro countermeasures, are implemented starting with the September 17 update. Additional measures, including report outcome notifications and appeal response procedures, will be introduced sequentially as preparations are completed.
Below is the full text of the Director's Note published on Thursday, September 17.
Hello, Commanders.
I am Hyungsuk Yoo.
We failed to handle the recent cheating incidents and our subsequent response swiftly, nor were we able to explain the situation to you quickly and accurately. We fell short of fulfilling our responsibility to properly verify and act on violations, and we did not sufficiently explain how reports and appeals are reviewed and processed. In this response process, we failed to fully uphold your faith in fair competition, and as Director, I sincerely apologize for causing frustration and disappointment to the Commanders who waited for a resolution.
Your records represent long hours of character growth, research, and countless challenges. The mere suspicion that such efforts could be bypassed through illicit means shakes the very meaning of competition. On top of that, if it was difficult to be certain whether reported issues were properly verified, or if incorrect judgments could be corrected, enjoying and trusting the game would have been truly difficult.
This issue is not simply a matter of rankings and rewards. We believe it is a failure on our part to safeguard the time and effort you have poured in, and a fundamental issue of whether you can trust the management of NIKKE.
I am in charge of development at Shift Up, and I have largely focused on steering the development and content of NIKKE in a better direction. However, just as important as creating good content, I should have paid deeper attention to the environment in which Commanders play the game, and whether issues were being properly responded to and resolved when they arose.
Through this experience, I belatedly realized that I must view my role as Director from a much broader perspective. Looking back, it is something completely obvious, yet I failed to take care of even that fundamental aspect. For causing concern and disappointment to our Commanders as a result, I offer my deepest apologies.
I will not stop at reflecting on my shortcomings exposed through this incident. Going forward, I will personally oversee not only content development, but also the implementation process and outcomes of the measures outlined below.
First, I would like to detail the primary improvements.
● We will complement the battle logs and verification systems used to detect cheating.
While reviewing this matter in detail, we examined several technical avenues for improvement. Up to now, cheating verification has relied on collected battle logs and predefined criteria. However, because NIKKE generates a wide variety of logs during combat, identifying complex anomalous situations solely with currently collected information created inefficiencies where personnel had to inspect massive amounts of data manually. Furthermore, our ability to proactively capture anomalous situations and discover issues was insufficient.
Therefore, we will expand the data recorded in battle logs so that anomalous situations can be effectively identified based on broader information, while also refining the verification logic that utilizes it. The battle logs and verification logic obtained in this manner will be applied not only to the automated verification system we plan to reinforce, but also to manual verification whenever additional confirmation is required.
After reviewing various approaches, we determined that enhancing the battle logs and verification systems is the most crucial action needed right now, and we will prioritize preparing this as quickly as possible.
● We will refine the reporting and appeal processes separately.
For the in-game reporting feature, we will improve the notification system so players can confirm whether submitted reports have actually been reviewed. When an appeal is submitted, we will further strengthen the manual re-examination process, where a human reviewer personally double-checks the sanction decision. Additionally, we will maximize verification accuracy so legitimate gameplay is not mistakenly judged as cheating, and if an incorrect decision is identified through re-examination, it will be rectified immediately.
● We will clarify the criteria and sanction principles regarding cheating.
We will take a decisive stance against violations that undermine fair competition. We will clearly outline specific violation criteria and sanction methods, and once a violation is confirmed, strict action will be taken based on established criteria and actual impact.
● We will strengthen the collaborative system between Shift Up and the Operations Team.
To our Commanders, NIKKE is a single game and a single service. Creating a great gaming experience and stable service cannot be accomplished by the efforts of one side alone.
Going forward, Shift Up will not merely provide support upon request, but will proactively look into necessary areas, make proposals, and support more actively.
Furthermore, alongside the NIKKE Operations Team under Level Infinite, we will closely examine issues and feedback conveyed through the game, community channels, and customer support, collaborating tightly so that necessary matters lead to thorough review and improvement.
Regarding issues during operations that require additional verification or judgment, both sides will actively share necessary information and review them together. Development data and technical support provided by Shift Up will also be reinforced.
The Shift Up Development Team and the NIKKE Operations Team share the responsibility of building a single service together. Within our respective roles, we will look into necessary areas together and continuously address any shortcomings.
Responding to cheating is an area that requires continuous refinement. Whenever new methods emerge, we will increase the accuracy and speed of detection and response, continuing to complement the necessary systems.
Specific details on violation criteria, sanction methods, review procedures after reports and appeals, and currently prepared improvements are explained in further detail via the [Notice on Cheating Response System and Improvements] announcement published alongside this note.
We are aware that many Commanders are asking us to re-verify past competitive records and various cases. We will not exclude them from verification simply because they occurred in the past. Based on currently verifiable records, data, and the importance of the issue, we will continue to look into areas deemed to require additional review.
However, as there are practical limitations to re-verifying every single competitive content instance and case across a long period from scratch, we will establish priorities and proceed with necessary reviews accordingly.
We do not believe that preparing new rules and systems alone will resolve this issue. Ultimately, we must demonstrate through actual live operations whether we verify issues properly when they occur, rectify incorrect decisions when made, and uphold what we promised today over time.
We will not ask you to trust us again right now. We will change things one by one in actual operations so that today's promises do not remain mere words. Moving forward, we will do our utmost to rebuild trust so that you can feel these changes directly as you play NIKKE.
Development Team & Operations Team
Sincerely, Director Hyungsuk Yoo
