King investigated by PayPal, causes freeze on withdrawals from online games portal
The company's Royal Games website left users unable to access winnings
Developer King has been investigated by PayPal over its online games portal, Royal Games.
The portal hosts browser versions of some of the company's most popular franchises, including Candy Crush and Bubble witch. Users are able to compete for cash prizes.
However, some paying customers on the portal had been unable to retrieve their winnings from the site due to a freeze on withdrawals in January this year.
According to a report from Eurogamer, Royal Games told customers that the freeze would be temporary, and were later told that it pertained to a legal investigation by PayPal over how the site works in different countries.
The company apologised for withdrawal issues via an April blog post, writing: "The issue has proven more complicated than first anticipated, and we're currently in the process of consulting with lawyers in order to provide PayPal with legal opinions on this matter."
As of today, the site's withdrawal page is back online, alongside a disclaimer that funds may still take a while to land with the recipient.
King did not provide any further insight into how long the transaction may take, or how it plans to resolve the situation for players. In a statement to Eurogamer, the firm apologised for the inconvenience and expressed "regret that we're unable to offer an alternative process."