South Korean gaming company Krafton has been fined 2.5 million KRW (about $1,830 USD) by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) for misleading players about loot box odds in PUBG: Battlegrounds. The controversy involves a collaboration with popular K-pop group NewJeans, where players could unlock special in-game skins of the group members.
The issue started when Krafton advertised that players were “guaranteed” to get a NewJeans skin after five attempts if they failed in the first four. However, investigations revealed the actual success rate was only 9% per try, with no guarantee even after multiple purchases. This led to complaints from players who spent money expecting better odds.
NewJeans x Pubg Mobile (KR) update. Thereโs only a voicepack, gun skin and car skinโฆ Their voices are so cuteeeeeee ๐ญ pic.twitter.com/iy8ky17bNe
Krafton has since issued refunds totaling 1.1 billion KRW (about $805,000 USD) to 380,000 affected players. They also gave out 9.8 billion KRW (about $7.18 million USD) worth of in-game currency as compensation. The company must now submit plans to prevent similar issues in the future.
The NewJeans x PUBG collaboration launched in June 2024, featuring themed skins, emotes, and costumes based on the groupโs members: Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein. A major in-game location, Taego School, was redesigned with bubblegum-themed visuals matching NewJeans’ style. The event boosted PUBGโs player count, reaching 661,000 concurrent users shortly after launch.
However, the collaboration also faced backlash when some players dressed the NewJeans avatars in revealing outfits, leading to complaints from the groupโs agency, ADOR. Krafton later restricted certain clothing items from being used with the NewJeans skins, including bikinis, short skirts, and nightgowns. Players who bought these items between June 12 and June 26, 2024, were offered refunds or in-game currency.
“We deeply regret any inconvenience and reputational damage caused to our players due to the changes we announced regarding NewJeansโ character items,” Krafton said in a statement. “We apologize for not considering the impact this would have in advance.”
The Korea Fair Trade Commission has been cracking down on misleading loot box practices in games. Earlier, they fined Nexon11.6 billion KRW for similar issues in MapleStory. Krafton is now under scrutiny for other in-game items with incorrect probability rates, including some that had a 0% drop chance despite being advertised otherwise.
NewJeans, managed under HYBEโs subsidiary ADOR, has paused activities due to internal company disputes. Their involvement in this controversy adds to recent challenges for the group.
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