Game developer Webzen has been fined by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) over deceptive gacha practices in the mobile MMORPG MU Archangel, as reported by The Chosun Daily and ThisIsGame.
KFTC discovered that Webzen sold three types of probability-based items (gacha draw tickets) with a hidden minimum pull requirement. Unknown to players, the probability of obtaining rare items was 0% until a minimum of 50 to 149 pulls, which is basically the inverse of a pity system.
This issue first came to light in March 2024, and at the time, Webzen apologized and offered players refunds, claiming that they’d “discovered an error in how probabilities were displayed.” However, KFTC stressed that this does not change the fact that MU Archangel players made purchases under the mistaken belief that they could draw rare items from the very first pull. Additionally, it seems that of the 20,226 affected users, only 860 (less than 5%) ended up receiving compensation.
As a result, KFTC announced on November 30 that it has issued a corrective order (a prohibition on future violations and a reporting order on preventive measures) and decided to impose a fine of 158 million won (about $107k USD) on Webzen. According to ThisIsGame, some voices in the industry argue that the fine is too modest relative to Webzen’s revenue scale.
But Webzen isn’t the only publisher accused of deceptive gacha mechanics either. between April and June 2025, KFTC says it investigated similar violations by Krafton (PUBG; Battlegrounds), Gravity (Ragnarok Online), WeMade (Night Crows) and Com2uS (STARSEED: Asnia Trigger).
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