[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has imposed government sanctions on Webzen, a Korean game developer, for misleading consumers in the sale of probability-based in-game items.
According to the KFTC’s announcement on the 30th, Webzen provided false, concealed, or omitted information regarding item acquisition probabilities while selling randomized items in its mobile game MU Archangel. The company has been issued a corrective order and fined KRW 158 million.
The corrective measures include a prohibition order and a mandate to submit plans to prevent recurrence.
A KFTC investigation found that from June 27, 2020, to March 2, 2023, Webzen sold three types of probability-based items—Set Treasure Draw Ticket, Festival Roulette Draw Ticket, and Treasure of the Earth Dragon Draw Ticket—without disclosing that certain rare items could not be obtained at all unless users made a minimum number of purchases.
These items employed a so-called “pity system”, under which specific rare components only became obtainable after 51 to 150 purchases, depending on the item type. Before reaching this threshold, the actual probability of receiving certain high-value items was zero, a fact Webzen failed to disclose.
For example, users with in-game character levels below 400 could not obtain the rare “Legend Accessory Set Stone Package” until they purchased and used 99 Set Treasure Draw Tickets; only upon the 100th purchase would a 0.3% acquisition chance apply.
Despite this, Webzen presented the acquisition probability to consumers as 0.88% or 0.286%, implying that rare items could drop from the very first purchase—misleading users into believing that luck alone could yield the desired outcome.
The KFTC determined that Webzen’s actions constituted deceptive practices involving false or exaggerated information, violating the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.
Although more than 20,000 users were affected, only 860 received compensation. Citing the scale of harm and deceptive conduct, the KFTC imposed stricter penalties than in prior similar cases involving other game companies.
During the period under review, Webzen generated an estimated KRW 6.7 billion in revenue from the three probability-based items in question.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
