When a major K-pop crossover enters a battle royale, players usually expect creative cosmetic mixing. But the PUBG x NewJeans collaboration forced the developers to make an unusual decision. Following inappropriate posts, the artists' agency asked for protective measures, and the PUBG team agreed to restrict some wardrobe items when a NewJeans face was equipped. The change covered all five members: Minji, Danielle, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein. On PC, the restriction went live with the July 10, 2024 update, while console timing was announced separately.

This kind of change can sting, especially after players spent real money. PUBG admitted the inconvenience and tried to reduce the damage with a formal refund and compensation program. Here is how the whole process worked.

What Changed After the Collaboration?

The core issue was simple: certain existing wardrobe skins could no longer be combined with the NewJeans character faces. Starting June 26, 2024 at 15:00 UTC, anyone purchasing or crafting the relevant items on PC or console saw this in-game warning:

Some item combinations may be restricted when equipping PUBG x NewJeans skins. Please see the Notice for details.

The affected products included:

• PUBG x NewJeans Loot Cache Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, and Step 4 Sets

• PUBG x NewJeans Loot Cache Packs, including x1, x11, x27, and x55 versions

• Individual member sets for Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein

Who Could Apply for Help?

Eligibility was not open to everyone forever. PUBG focused on buyers who made purchases before the warning was visible. Specifically, eligible players fell into two groups:

1. Players who bought PUBG x NewJeans Loot Cache items between the end of maintenance on June 12, 2024 and June 26, 2024 at 15:00 UTC.

2. Players affected by the earlier incorrect display of the Guaranteed Set Imprint system for the PUBG x NewJeans Prime Parcel item issue.

Anyone who purchased after June 26, 2024 at 15:00 UTC had already seen the warning and did not qualify.

The application system appeared in the lobby on July 3, 2024, and the deadline was Friday, August 2, 2024 at 02:00 UTC. During the application process, eligible players had to pick one route. G-COIN charging and store purchases, including the Hideout and Workshop, were temporarily locked until the choice was completed. If a player did nothing, they were automatically placed into the G-COIN compensation option. Once submitted, the choice could not be changed.

Timeline Detail	Result
Purchase window for eligibility	June 12 maintenance end to June 26, 2024 15:00 UTC
Application period	July 3, 2024 to August 2, 2024 02:00 UTC
Default option if no action	Automatic G-COIN compensation

Option One: Keep Items and Take G-COIN Compensation

This option was the friendlier path for collectors. Players kept all their NewJeans Loot Cache items and received 50 percent of the G-COIN spent during the eligible period as bonus G-COIN. For example, a player who spent 12,500 G-COIN on eligible packs would receive 6,250 G-COIN back without losing anything. The bonus G-COIN could not be refunded back into platform currency.

For players also caught up in the older Prime Parcel display bug, the process worked a little differently. PUBG calculated the Prime Parcel compensation separately and combined it with the wardrobe-related compensation into one payment. Depending on the specific purchase window and issue, some players received 100 percent or 50 percent of their qualifying G-COIN as bonus currency. The total was issued in a single payout to keep things manageable.

Option Two: Request a Full Refund and Inventory Rollback

A full refund sounded attractive, but the execution was drastic. PUBG stated that it was technically impossible to remove only the NewJeans Loot Cache items. So instead, the team reset the entire inventory to its state immediately after maintenance on June 12, 2024.

That meant every item, event reward, pass reward, and growth weapon skin acquired after that point could be rolled back. All G-COIN spent from the post-maintenance moment until the refund request was returned. Players also received 30 contraband coupons as compensation. Any progress on the PUBG x NewJeans Step Up Package was reset, allowing them to repurchase it.

Why such a massive reset? The developers explained that tokens from eligible purchases could not always be separated from tokens earned later. Mixed bundles and contraband crate purchases created additional technical hurdles. A clean inventory rollback was the only way to guarantee a fair G-COIN refund.

Refund Scenario Example	Outcome
Ancient Egypt Mega Bundle bought June 15 for 4,360 G-COIN	Item retrieved
PUBG x NewJeans Loot Cache Pack x27 bought June 21 for 6,250 G-COIN	Item retrieved
Total refund	10,610 G-COIN

Third-Party Purchases and Platform Refunds

Players who bought G-COIN codes from third-party platforms such as Heybox, Sunwang, or Xsolla could only receive G-COIN refunds from PUBG. Cash refunds followed each platform's own sales policy. For platform currency reimbursement, players had to contact PUBG Customer Support during the application period. The reimbursement would then be credited to the relevant platform account.

Final Thoughts

Could this have been avoided? Perhaps, but external requests from an artists' agency left PUBG with limited room to negotiate. The developers called it the most ethical action they could take as a collaboration partner. They also emphasized that cosmetic freedom remains a unique part of PUBG culture, even if this one partnership required a temporary limitation.

For players, the real lesson was to pay attention to purchase warnings and event deadlines. Those who read the notice could choose between keeping their items with partial compensation or accepting a heavy inventory reset for a refund. Everyone else was quietly sent down the G-COIN path. In a game built on customization, even the flashiest K-pop drop can come with some unexpectedly serious fine print.