Arknights: Endfield Faces PayPal Glitch, Overcharges 1,800 Players by $80,000

Being an early adopter of Arknights: Endfield turned out to be more expensive than many players anticipated, as they discovered unauthorized charges for in-game purchases. Fortunately, the issue has been addressed, with developer Hypergryph revealing that the total financial impact reached around $80,000.

“After our investigation, we found that 3,429 orders were affected across various servers, involving about 1,800 players,” the company stated, explaining that the problem stemmed from a disconnect between PayPal and the game’s payment system. “The total value of the impacted orders was roughly $80,000, with the largest single transaction hitting $5,289.”

Like other free RPGs such as Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Arknights: Endfield employs gacha mechanics for its monetization strategy. The game launched on PS5, PC, and mobile on January 22, quickly drawing in players thanks to its accessible entry point and strong appeal among fans of anime-inspired titles.

Reports of unexpected charges totaling hundreds of dollars began surfacing, indicating a significant issue. “Once we confirmed the problem, we disabled PayPal payments within hours to mitigate further impact,” Hypergryph added. “We identified all affected transactions on the same day and issued full refunds to all players involved.”

To maintain goodwill, all impacted players were allowed to keep the rewards they earned, and PayPal remains disabled for now to facilitate thorough testing and verification. Following a comprehensive review of their systems, “additional safeguards around third-party payment providers” have been implemented to enhance the existing payment infrastructure.

Launching a game is always a complex endeavor, and this incident ranks high on the list of potential pitfalls. However, it could have been much worse, and Hypergryph’s efforts to rectify the situation should help Arknights: Endfield thrive moving forward.