I Love Nikki, a title from the developer of Shining Nikki—which withdrew from the Korean market after capitulating to Chinese users claiming Hanbok is a traditional Chinese costume—is finally closing its doors this October. While I Love Nikki had established a solid foothold in Korea four years prior to the debut of Shining Nikki, the fallout from the Hanbok controversy ultimately stifled its momentum.

The domestic publisher for I Love Nikki, NEXUS Co., Ltd. (formerly Party Games), announced the shutdown schedule via the official game cafe on the 22nd. I Love Nikki launched in July 2016 and maintained service for nine years, but will officially close its doors on October 22. As of the 22nd, game downloads and account creation have been halted, and all in-game purchases are disabled. Furthermore, any unused items purchased between August 20 and September 22 at 11:00 AM will be refunded. Customer support will remain operational until November 22 at 11:00 AM to process these requests.

Debuting in Korea in 2016, I Love Nikki invited players to become the ultimate stylist. Within just one week of launch, the game hit 1 million downloads and achieved the rare feat for a female-oriented title of reaching 5th place in Google revenue rankings. It also served as the flagship title for NEXUS Co., Ltd., which had gone public in 2014 on the back of the success of I Love Coffee.

However, the aforementioned Hanbok controversy surrounding Shining Nikki dealt a massive blow to I Love Nikki, despite both games sharing the same developer. While NEXUS Co., Ltd. managed to keep the service running until this year, many users left in protest of Papergames, the developer that withdrew from Korea after aligning with the narrative that Hanbok belongs to China. Consequently, the game is now set to close in October.