The conflict between Hound13, the developer of the open-world action RPG Dragon Sword, and its publisher, Webzen, has ultimately escalated into a messy mud-slinging war. With Hound13 unilaterally notifying Webzen of the contract termination, Webzen has countered with an extreme measure: offering a "full refund of all purchases made since launch." The situation is spiraling out of control. Let's take an objective look at the current situation, analyze the hidden layers of this unprecedented crisis, and determine who the real victims are.
1. Webzen's Official Statement: "We Actually Tried to Save Them With More Money"
On the evening of February 19th, Webzen released an official statement on the community forums, flatly refuting Hound13's claims. The key points are as follows:
A 30 Billion KRW Investment and Development Delays: Webzen invested approximately 30 billion KRW (roughly $22.5 million USD) into Hound13 in January 2024. The original agreed-upon development completion date was March 2025, but Hound13 repeatedly postponed the schedule, citing the need to improve game quality. Webzen claims this extended development period is what drained Hound13's funds.
Refuting the "Unpaid Balance" Claim & Advance Payments: While Hound13 claimed they didn't receive their remaining balance, Webzen revealed that they were actually concerned about the developer's financial struggles. As a result, they exceptionally paid out a portion of the Minimum Guarantee (MG) in advance during December 2025 and January 2026—money that was originally supposed to be paid after the official launch. Webzen claims they were even in the middle of negotiating an additional investment to cover operating costs for the next year.
Unilateral Notification and the "Full Refund" Countermeasure: Given this situation, when Hound13 notified them of the contract termination without prior agreement, Webzen determined that maintaining a normal live service was impossible. Citing customer protection, they made the drastic decision to completely block all in-game purchases immediately after the announcement and offer a "full 100% refund" for all transactions made by users since the game's launch on January 21st.
2. A Cold Reception Despite the "Full Refund" Shield: Webzen's Bad Karma
Looking solely at the statement, it might seem like Webzen was stabbed in the back and that the "unconditional full refund" is a strong customer protection measure. However, the community's reaction remains icy.
The reason is that Webzen has shattered player trust by causing fatal operational controversies in almost every game they service, including their flagship core IP, the MU series.
The 'MU Archangel' Probability Rigging Scandal: Webzen was caught covering up a "floor system" where the drop rate for certain gacha items was secretly set to an absolute 0% until the 149th pull. In late 2025, they were hammered with hefty fines by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), sparking massive class-action lawsuits from players. It was a colossal deception.
'MU Origin' Sudden EoS and Cash-Grabbing: Following allegations of administrators unfairly intervening with "super accounts," they ran aggressive monetization events just days before announcing the End of Service (EoS). After facing immense backlash, they hastily had to expand their refund policy.
The 1-Year EoS for Anime-Style Gacha Games ('The Eminence in Shadow' & 'Ragnador'): After reassuring players that there were no plans to shut down, they abruptly dropped End of Service (EoS) notices a mere 20 days later. Naturally, this led to players sending protest trucks to their headquarters.
Because this is a publisher that has repeatedly shown a pattern of "profit extraction followed by irresponsible neglect and sudden EoS" and "gacha rate deception" across all genres, players' minds are already made up. Even if Webzen's side of the story in this crisis is 100% true, the prevailing sentiment in the gamers' minds is simply: "Webzen is just cutting the tail to save themselves again."
3. A Cold, Objective Look: Who Is More to Blame?
Stripping away the emotions and looking at it from a business perspective, this crisis is a complete disaster where both sides bear painful responsibility.
Hound13’s Failures (Reckless Management and Hasty Notification): Burning through a massive 30 billion KRW investment and failing to hit agreed-upon milestones within the deadline is a clear lack of development capability and capital management. Furthermore, publicly announcing a contract termination—essentially taking the players hostage—without even having a concrete backup plan (like a new publisher lined up) was an unprofessional and emotional response.
Webzen’s Failures (Lack of Publishing Capability and Quick Tail-Cutting): If the game failed to gain traction due to poor initial marketing, that is a dereliction of duty on the publisher's part. Moreover, it is a publisher's job to mediate conflicts and carry the service through to the end. The fact that the moment a problem arose, they opted for the most destructive and easiest way out—pulling the plug after a full refund—rather than seeking a long-term solution makes them hard to defend.
4. An All-Out War Just One Month After Launch: An Unprecedented Industry Event
Conflicts between publishers and developers are common in the industry. There have been massive, decades-long lawsuits over the Legend of Mir IP between Wemade and Shanda, or contract friction between Smilegate and Tencent following the massive success of Crossfire.
However, a situation like the Dragon Sword crisis—where both sides publicly expose each other's dirty laundry on community forums over a game less than a month old, leading straight to a "same-day full refund and de facto EoS"—is almost unheard of in the history of the Korean gaming market. Usually, even if a dispute occurs, it's an unwritten rule in the industry to fight it out in court behind closed doors, or at least maintain the service for 6 to 12 months while figuring out an exit strategy. The fact that a major publisher and a mid-sized developer engaged in a real-life UFC brawl in broad daylight just a month after launch is a bitter reflection of how suffocating and desperate the current Korean gaming market ecosystem has become.
5. The Ultimate Victims: The Gamers Who Enjoyed 'Dragon Sword'
Amidst this complex battle of corporate capital and adult egos, there is one crucial fact we must never forget: the most unfair and innocent victims of this entire mess are the 'players' who were just trying to enjoy the game.
No matter how "cool" Webzen acts by offering a full refund, it cannot fully heal the scars left on the players. To gamers, a game isn't just a mass-produced product you buy with money. It contains the "time and memories" poured into leveling up characters, staying up all night since launch day, and communicating with guildmates. If a game evaporates into thin air overnight, simply having the refund money deposited back into a bank account does not compensate for the genuine passion players invested.
It is truly devastating that Dragon Sword, a game that built up so much anticipation with its excellent action combat, has become a sacrificial lamb in a corporate turf war. I can only watch with a bitter heart, hoping that both sides can quickly reach a reasonable conclusion that minimizes the damage done to the players.
Continue to Part 3: The "Hostile Takeover" Attempt & Unpaid Leave
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