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Game publishers Krafton, Com2uS fined for misrepresenting odds of in-game chance items

Published: 16 Jun. 2025, 16:49

An image from “PUBG: Battlegrounds,″ a game operated by Krafton [KRAFTON]

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed penalties on Krafton, the operator of “PUBG: Battlegrounds,” and Com2uS, which runs “Starseed: Asnia Trigger,” for falsely disclosing the probabilities of chance-based in-game items.

Each company was fined 2.5 million won ($1,830) and ordered to devise and report measures to prevent future violations under the E-Commerce Act.

Krafton, the developer of "PUBG: Battlegrounds," misrepresented the chances of obtaining items between March and June of last year. One case involved a promotional skin set resembling K-pop group NewJeans, where players were told the fifth try would guarantee success. In reality, the odds remained at just 9 percent. Krafton also claimed certain items had drop rates between 0.1414 and 0.7576 percent — when the actual chance was zero.

Com2uS, the operator of "Starseed: Asnia Trigger," falsely advertised that all three items in a bundle each had a 24 percent chance of increasing character stats. Only one item actually did; the other two offered no such benefit.

A game player tries out the mobile version of ″PUBG: Battlegrounds″ at a pop-up store in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, on May 21. [NEWS1]

The FTC has ordered both companies to submit detailed measures to prevent future misinformation within 30 days.

Krafton has since refunded more than 1.1 billion won to over 380,000 customers and awarded in-game currency valued at around 9.8 billion won as compensation.

Com2uS gave out 200,000 won in in-game currency — more than the maximum cost of 140,000 won to acquire the items — to all 1.55 million users regardless of whether they made related purchases.

The FTC’s action follows a March 2023 revision to the Game Industry Promotion Act, which requires clear disclosure of probability-based item mechanics. The commission launched investigations into six companies based on internal monitoring and user complaints.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]