Arknights Endfield Launch Hits Players with Unexpected Charges: “I Lost My Entire $1,200 Balance”

Arknights: Endfield was primed for a stellar launch, boasting over 35 million pre-registrations for its new real-time strategy RPG that combines factory-building mechanics with charming anime characters. However, some players faced a significant hiccup right out of the gate, as issues with PayPal led to unexpected deductions from their accounts.

A glance at the Endfield subreddit reveals a wave of frustration. One user lamented, “The devs need to get this fixed. I got charged for the $69.99 while I was trying to buy the monthly pass.” Another user shared a more alarming experience: “My whole bank account balance of £1.2k got wiped clean and I’ve got bills to pay tomorrow; this is absolutely insane and unacceptable.” One player even posted a screenshot of a staggering €15,264.19 transaction, humorously stating, “I will never financially recover from this.”

Fortunately, developer Hypergryph quickly acknowledged the problem and began implementing a fix. Initially, a tweet from the game’s official account mentioned that “we have received reports that the PayPal payment channel is currently undergoing temporary maintenance and upgrades,” which may not have provided much comfort to those affected. However, it assured players that “transactions involving abnormal item delivery or payment deduction will be handled accordingly.”

A subsequent update provided more clarity, stating, “Earlier today, we identified an issue with our payment system that affected a small number of purchases made via PayPal by players using the official launcher, as well as PayPal top-ups made through topup.gryphline.com.” The message explained that there was a mismatch between orders and item delivery, impacting only a limited number of transactions.

According to the update, PayPal payments were disabled shortly after the issue was reported, and within seven hours, the team had completed a review of all affected transactions. They began issuing full refunds for all PayPal orders, with expectations that the process would be completed within four hours.

As of the latest update, players are encouraged to contact the Arknights: Endfield support team if they haven’t received their refunds yet.

“Providing a stable and reliable service is a top priority for us,” the post emphasized. “Data security is foundational to our services and a core priority for GRYPHLINE. The PayPal payment option will remain disabled until the issue is fully resolved and thoroughly tested. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.”