The truth battle over the full refund and service suspension of the open-world action RPG Dragon Sword is heating up. Right after publisher Webzen released their official statement, developer Hound13 fired back with conflicting claims in an interview with a Korean gaming webzine, pushing the crisis into a new phase.
Let's take an objective look at Hound13's current claims and the controversy surrounding the 'launch delay,' which is now being pointed out as the most fatal misstep in this entire ordeal.
1. Hound13's Exposé: "Unpaid 60% Balance and a Lowball Takeover Demand"
Hound13's interview, released on the morning of February 20th, flat-out refuted Webzen's explanations.
The Truth About the Unpaid Balance: Webzen claimed they made advance payments, but according to Hound13, they only received 40% of the Minimum Guarantee (MG) around the launch period. The remaining 60% was never paid. The developer insists that if this balance had been paid, they could have easily survived on their own until the global launch.
The Shocking Conditions of the "Additional Investment": The 'additional investment' Webzen supposedly offered to solve the financial crisis was not pure support. It was revealed to be a demand to hand over a majority stake at a fraction of its previous valuation (essentially face value) and become a Webzen subsidiary—a move that is practically a hostile takeover.
A Pre-Planned Exit Strategy: When Hound13 demanded the remaining 60% balance, Webzen allegedly replied that they were "already considering plans to halt Dragon Sword's service and issue refunds." In other words, Webzen didn't decide on the End of Service (EoS) simply because they had no choice following Hound13's unilateral notification; they were already looking for a way out.
2. Question #1: A Fatal Misstep Dodging Aion 2 to Crash into Endfield?
Another part of the interview that caught players' attention is the background behind the 'launch delay.' According to Hound13, Dragon Sword was originally targeting a November 2025 release. However, Webzen requested a delay, arguing they needed to avoid overlapping with NCSoft's highly anticipated Aion 2.
The problem is that this delayed January launch coincidentally clashed head-on with the release of the global anime-style blockbuster, Arknights: Endfield.
For Dragon Sword, an action RPG heavily focused on anime aesthetics, going toe-to-toe with Endfield—where the target audience overlaps perfectly—was a far more fatal, self-inflicted wound than competing against Aion 2, which has a vastly different player base.
3. Question #2: Intentional Sabotage or a Complete Failure in Market Analysis?
With all these factors stacking up, suspicions are brewing among users: "Did Webzen intentionally overlap the launch with Endfield to tank the game's success, so they could snatch up the company's shares at a bargain?" However, looking at this objectively through the lens of industry business logic, it's highly likely a catastrophic "failure in market analysis" by Webzen rather than calculated sabotage.
The Weight of a 30 Billion KRW Investment: Webzen had already poured a massive 30 billion KRW (approx. $22.5 million USD) into Dragon Sword. Intentionally ruining the launch of their own published title just to buy shares cheaply defies basic business sense. A failed IP is a massive financial loss for the publisher as well.
Webzen's Outdated DNA and Misjudgment: Webzen, centered around the MU series, is trapped in a traditional old-school MMORPG mindset. They were terrified of the massive tsunami of marketing and player attention that Aion 2 would bring, yet they completely failed to read the overwhelming impact and the sheer danger of audience overlap that Endfield commands in the global anime gaming scene. It is a disaster born from a publisher completely ignorant of modern anime gaming trends.
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4. Parallel Claims and the Tragedy Left Behind
The publisher points to the developer's delays and financial struggles making live service impossible, while the developer blames the publisher's unpaid balances and aggressive takeover demands as the core reasons for this crisis.
As both sides remain entirely at odds, the actual truth behind this business conflict—tangled in corporate contracts and capital logic—will likely only be sorted out in court. However, regardless of whose claims are true, one fact remains unchanged: the players who believed in the game's potential and poured their passion into it are the ones left feeling the most hollow in the midst of this intense corporate tug-of-war.
Continue to Part 4: Entering "Maintenance Mode" (The Death Sentence)
Read the original Korean post
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