Right after the devastating news broke that all Hound13 employees were put on unpaid leave, a single in-game notice for Dragon Sword posted on the 20th has become a bitter topic of discussion among the remaining players.
The notice stated that, for the players unable to make purchases, the game will be handing out massive amounts of gacha currency and growth materials every single day—both on weekdays and weekends—until further notice. On the surface, it looks like an incredible perk that lets you enjoy the game comfortably without spending a dime. But anyone who knows even a little bit about the ecosystem of gacha games will immediately realize that this notice is basically a "death sentence" and a signal that the game has transitioned into a terminal "private server."
1. Complete and Irreversible Collapse of the In-Game Economy
The most fatal issue is that the in-game economy is completely shattered. If they keep showering players with this much free gacha currency every day, the value of players' accounts will become grotesquely inflated in just a matter of days.
Let’s imagine a scenario where Hound13 miraculously finds a new publisher, or the situation is somehow resolved, and normal service resumes. If they keep these accounts where players have already pulled every character using free currency, any future monetization model (BM) is completely dead in the water. On the flip side, if they do a server rollback (wipe) to before this whole mess started, the few players who stuck around will inevitably riot and leave. In short, this "infinite currency" notice is paradoxically an admission and proof from both companies that normal live service for this game is no longer possible.
2. The Farce of "Mutually Agreed Upon by Both Companies"
Even amid this miserable situation—where mudslinging exposés are flying back and forth and the dev team is on unpaid leave—it is incredibly ironic that the notice begins with the phrase, "We have prepared a support plan mutually agreed upon by both companies."
For Webzen, this is likely a superficial PR move to slightly appease the angry mob triggered by the 100% refund fiasco. For Hound13, it was probably a desperate measure to stop the remaining player base from draining out like an ebb tide now that progression is blocked without a cash shop. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth knowing that, even while trying to rip each other's throats out, they forcefully slapped together this "agreement" just to deflect immediate public backlash.
3. A "Terminal Theme Park" Left for the Players
For the remaining players, they essentially get to enjoy all the content for free, as if it were a standalone PC/Console game or an illegal private server. Sure, it might be fun right now to freely enjoy a game with such great action mechanics. But every day, as you claim that massive pile of currency stacking up in your mailbox, it's impossible to shake off the weird, hollow realization that, "Ah, this game is truly rushing toward its end."
I held onto a tiny sliver of hope that when Monday rolled around, some dramatic twist or good news might drop. But cruelly, only time is passing by. It just breaks my heart to see Dragon Sword—a game armed with such an excellent combat system and action mechanics—receive a death sentence and fade away like this, all caught up in publisher conflicts and twisted business logic.
Read the original Korean post here.
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