7 Arrested Over Popular 'Dragon Ball' Cheat App

Dragon Ball is one of the most profitable franchises in the anime and manga industry, and much of it is due to the popular mobile games with in-app purchases. This has unfortunately caused some to cheat, however.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper in Japan reported the arrest of seven individuals who were involved with a cheating app for the Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle mobile game. Police in the Gifu prefecture arrested seven people connected with the sale of an unauthorized cheating app proxy service for the game. The app can allegedly be used to purchase the game's in-app goods for free.

Ages of the individuals ranged from a high school student to 44 years old, and nearly all are charged with something different. One was arrested for selling the app, one for buying, one for selling information as to where interested parties can find the app, and two individuals who paid for that information. Another was arrested for providing a proxy service for the purchases, and another was arrested for using that service.

In-app purchases are mostly geared toward getting new characters to use in these kind of games. An interested person playing Dokkan Battle can pay real world money in exchange for virtual currency such as Dragon Stones. These Dragon Stones are then used toward many of the character blind packs, which work as a "loot box" system in which people can use the virtual currency for a chance to get the characters they want.

This indirect form of purchasing characters has even been deemed as gambling by the Belgian Gaming Commission, and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle has since ceased in-app purchases in Brazil, for example, to comply with its gambling laws. Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle is currently available for purchase on iOS and Android in the United States and other territories, and has in-app purchases.

For those interested in the anime series, Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll. The manga currently can be read for free thanks to Viz Media.

If you want to catch up on said English dub, the first 65 episodes of Dragon Ball Super are now available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and available to purchase on Amazon Video as well. The 65 episodes span the full range of what has aired in the North America and covers the "Battle of Gods" arc, "Revival of F" arc, the "Universe 6" arc, and bringing the series right up to the climax of the "Future Trunks" arc. The series is also currently airing reruns weeknights on Adult Swim.;

[H/T Anime News Network]