In fact, games with a loot box mechanics must specify in detail the exact percentage chances and drop rates of items. An MMORPG provider is alleged to have manipulated this.
What happened? The Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has imposed a fine of 158 million won (approximately €92,500) on Webzen. This is reported by biz.chosun.com.
The reason: The MMORPG provider is said to have manipulated the drop rates of loot boxes in MU Archangel or provided false information to the community. Specifically, it seems to have been impossible to obtain the rarest (and thus most valuable) items within the first 50 loot box purchases.
Thus, affected players wasted their money on the purchase of loot boxes, unaware that they actually had no chance of obtaining their desired item.
Webzen is also behind Metin2:
A pocket money compared to what might still follow
What else is in store for Webzen? In addition to the fine, Webzen must change its misleading monetization strategy and prevent similar deceptions in the future. According to the report, the FTC is also investigating similar allegations in other games like MU Origin.
Furthermore, the “Korea Game Users Association” is currently preparing a class action lawsuit against Webzen. The association states that the company is believed to have earned about 6.7 billion won (almost €4 million) through its deception.
More than 95 percent of the affected individuals have not yet received any compensation. Therefore, a civil lawsuit for a fair penalty is unavoidable. If this is also successful in court, Webzen must expect a significantly harsher penalty.
Webzen … hasn’t there been something like this before? In recent years, Webzen has been the focus of another lawsuit that concluded in March 2025. In their lawsuit, the officials of publisher NCsoft (Guild Wars 2, Aion, Blade & Soul) stated that the MMORPG R2M is a blatant copy of their own mobile title Lineage M.
The game by Webzen is said to not only visually resemble the Lineage spinoff, but also in terms of systems, mechanics, and loot drop rates. The final ruling: The company had to pay €10 million in fines to NCsoft and take the game offline, having generated multiple times that amount
