On April 3rd, when news broke that Hound13 was boldly scrapping its gacha mechanics to self-publish Dragon Sword as a standalone game on Steam, many gamers applauded the decision. However, this hopeful atmosphere was short-lived. On April 21st, publisher Webzen dropped the hammer, announcing through their official community that they had filed an injunction to block the self-publishing of the game. Now, Hound13 has been pushed to the absolute brink.
The Calm Before the Storm: A Giant Publisher's Calculated 20-Day Silence
Back in February, when Hound13 first announced the termination of their publishing contract, Webzen reacted swiftly, issuing a rebuttal that very evening. However, following this recent announcement of an independent Steam release, Webzen remained silent for nearly 20 days.
This silence wasn't due to confusion; it was the time Webzen spent sharpening their legal weapons to completely bind Hound13's independent moves. Working quietly with top-tier law firms, they built a watertight legal argument regarding the breach of contract. They perfectly timed their official statement to coincide with the filing of the lawsuit, effectively cornering Hound13.
A July Release is Now Practically Impossible: Hound13's Harsh Reality
The most devastating part is that Hound13's original roadmap—a June demo and a July official launch—is now virtually impossible. There are massive, real-world walls here that a developer's sheer willpower simply cannot overcome.
Valve's Conservative Platform Policies: Steam is notoriously conservative when it comes to copyright and publishing disputes on its storefront. If Webzen submits a formal legal complaint based on their injunction, it is highly likely that Steam will block the creation of the store page entirely until a clear court ruling is reached.
The Massive Legal Risk of a David vs. Goliath Battle: As a large, publicly traded company, Webzen can endure years of litigation without breaking a sweat. Hound13, on the other hand, is already drying up financially, having suffered massive layoffs that slashed their staff from 160 to around 50. If the court grants the injunction or if Hound13 loses the main lawsuit, the astronomical penalties and lost opportunity costs would be far beyond what the studio can currently bear.
Physical Limitations and Divided Focus: Reworking a live-service structure into a standalone game in just 3 to 4 months with a skeleton crew is already an extreme crunch. With executives and core developers now forced to divert their time to a lawsuit that dictates the company's survival, focusing solely on polishing the game is practically impossible.
It is truly a shame that, regardless of the game's quality or the sweat shed by its developers, a well-made action RPG is on the verge of being buried by the cold, hard logic of business. Can Dragon Sword, which dreamed of a true revival as a standalone game, pull off a miraculous comeback from the edge of this cliff? For now, we will have to watch this situation unfold with a heavy heart.
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