FTC probes NCsoft, Webzen over 'super accounts,' loot box odds

The state antitrust regulator is investigating NCsoft and Webzen for deceptive practices in the popular titles Lineage M, Lineage 2M and MU Archangel.

Promotional image for NCsoft's Lineage 2M [NCsoft]

Korean game publishers NCsoft and Webzen are under investigation by the antitrust regulator for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices with in-game items.

This marks the second probe by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) since it imposed a new set of regulations last month in a fresh crackdown on the loot box system, an in-game lucky draw purchased by players that may or may not be favorable to their gaming situation.

NCsoft is suspected of creating and running so-called super accounts in its popular mobile games Lineage M and Lineage 2M. Players have contended that the developer created rarely available high-performance items for the super accounts and attacked other users, marring fair competition practice in the game.

The Korean Game User Association and over 1,000 Lineage players filed a collective complaint against the developer last month, saying it stoked competition among players and prodded them to spend money in the games.

The suspicion concerning possible super accounts has been raised several times against a number of game companies, but this is the first time that the FTC has carried out such a probe.

The agency is poised to look into Webzen’s possible manipulation of the probability of randomized items in its mobile game MU Archangel. It disclosed drawing odds of zero percent for the first 149 attempts, and 0.1 percent from the 150th time. Webzen had originally stated that the probability of drawing items increases to 0.29 percent each time from 0.25 percent.

The FTC earlier this month carried out investigations into game developers Gravity, the operator of Ragnarok, and Wemade, the operator of Night Crows, to determine whether they violated newly enforced policies regarding the loot box system.

The state regulator has been toughening restrictions on the much-criticized system that Korean game companies have relied on. Earlier this year, it slapped an 11.6 billion won ($8.7 million) fine on Nexon, one of the country’s leading developers and publishers, for misleading its users to purchase in-game items with false information.

BY JEONG JIN-HO, CHOI HAE-JIN [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]