[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced on June 16 that it has imposed corrective orders and fines of KRW 2.5 million each on local game publishers Krafton and Com2uS for violating the Electronic Commerce Act by misrepresenting item probability rates in their games.



Krafton is accused of providing false information regarding in-game item probabilities in its popular game PUBG: Battlegrounds. In June 2023, the company sold a probability-based item that allowed players to change character appearances to resemble members of the K-pop group NewJeans. Krafton claimed that although the first four attempts could fail, the item would be guaranteed on the fifth try. However, the actual success rate was only 9%, according to the KFTC’s findings.



In a separate case from March to April 2023, Krafton promoted another probability-based item—called “Refinement”—which allegedly replaced old items with new ones. Some items had a listed probability of 0.1414% to 0.7576%, but the actual probability was 0%.



Com2uS also came under scrutiny for deceptive practices between March and May 2023 in its game Starseed. The company sold a probability-based item named “Quick Operation Reward,” claiming users had a 24% chance to receive a stat-boosting benefit. In reality, the probability was 0%.



The KFTC has ordered both companies to submit detailed plans within 30 days to prevent recurrence of such deceptive practices.



While no punitive fines were imposed, the commission considered the fact that both companies voluntarily corrected the misleading practices and provided compensation to users.



Krafton refunded over KRW 1.1 billion to approximately 380,000 players and distributed in-game rewards valued at around KRW 9.8 billion. Com2uS granted all players game currency worth KRW 200,000, regardless of purchase history.

 

 

 

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