Hound13's open-world buy-to-play action RPG, 'Dragon Sword: Awakening', will receive its Version 1.1 update on October 15. Launched on Steam as a buy-to-play title after various twists and turns, 'Dragon Sword: Awakening' has garnered a positive global response thanks to its half-price point, unique status-effect-based switching tag-team action, and feature-rich open-world exploration.
Having undergone multiple improvements since launch—ranging from UI/UX enhancements to the addition of a Just Dodge system—'Dragon Sword: Awakening' will introduce Liza, one of the DLC characters teased prior to launch, in its October 15 update. Along with this, the team shared news of a ranking system for competitive players, a new Extermination difficulty, DLC costumes, and a preview of upcoming seasonal costumes, showing a steady preparation for its next phase.
Having barely managed to release after numerous crises and now surpassing 400,000 cumulative sales, Dragon Sword: Awakening is gearing up for what comes next. We spoke with CEO Park Jung-sik and PM Kim Dong-hoon to hear about the story of the three months following release and their preparations for the next step.
Dragon Sword: Awakening's Steam Launch After Twists and Turns: Not an End, but Another Beginning
It has been nearly three months since the Steam launch. How have you been spending that time?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = We've been incredibly busy since launch. Because we had to release in a rush, the game had many shortcomings, so we spent a lot of time fixing them. I think we maintained patches almost on a weekly basis. After working frantically on improvements for about a month and a half to two months, we finally gained a bit of breathing room recently, so the dev team is taking short breaks while preparing the next schedule. I'm planning future improvements and additional content, as well as outlining launch and update plans for the upcoming console versions.
CEO Park Jung-sik = Even though we launched globally, circumstances forced us to rush the release, so we only included Korean voiceover. We are currently preparing English, Chinese, and Japanese dubbing as well. We've finished selecting vendors for English and Chinese dubbing recording, while details for Japanese dubbing are still being ironed out. Before that, due to our circumstances, we used AI for localized translations, which left many areas lacking, but we've been improving those through updates and for this dubbing effort. We are aiming to add English and Chinese voiceovers in the December update, and the Japanese version is being prepared to coincide with the console release.
Aside from the hardships leading up to launch, you faced several unexpected situations during your first Steam release. Could you share more about that time, and what is the current situation?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = To be honest, it was an unprecedented situation. The release time suddenly got delayed like that. So we were anxiously waiting for Steam's response, and the moment we received it and purchases went live, the entire office erupted in applause.
There's that saying, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," right? We were in that exact spot. After taking that punch once, we've been working with plenty of buffer time so we never experience the same thing again. We realized that Steam's workflow operates differently, so we couldn't just stick to the conventions we were used to. Accordingly, we are managing our schedule much more rigorously.
In fact, the delay in selling the swimsuit DLC happened in a similar context. Taking that second hit hurt quite a bit too. The costumes announced this time are already fully prepared, so they will be applied as scheduled without delays. We will also prepare future updates and DLC on schedule without hitches.
You are receiving good responses globally as well as domestically. Have you added any new processes regarding this?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = No separate process has been added. As before, we keep close tabs on overseas game fans through Discord and other channels, and we are responding based on what we've already developed.
Since we don't have extensive experience yet, we are carefully watching overseas community trends regarding various topics. We're looking into things beforehand, such as whether we should release physical editions for the PS release and what overseas players currently think about such matters.
Also, an issue recently surfaced regarding global translation and terminology, which made us realize that relying solely on the conventions and experience gained from domestic service can lead to problems. So we have become much more cautious about these aspects.
Additionally, to communicate with global fans, we recently utilized real-time AI translation features, and it feels much better than before. So we are actively communicating while trying out various experimental features. While it's not 100% perfect, fans seem to appreciate it, so we are considering various ways to utilize it.
CEO Park Jung-sik = Up until now, our PM handled global community support alone, but another PM recently joined us. Even if translation can be managed with AI, cultural context and rapport have their limits. We hope that with this person handling overseas language support and community management, we can reach global players more directly.
Rather than stopping at release, you've continuously pushed updates. What are some newly added systems or major improvements?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = First, we improved inconvenient areas during gameplay, as well as elements that didn't fit console or single-player buy-to-play games. For example, on mobile, having too many quick slots is inconvenient because touch areas swell excessively. On PC or consoles, however, you have plenty of usable keys, so having more quick slots is better. In that way, we are polishing parts that were incomplete or didn't fit the conventions of buy-to-play games. At the same time, we're filling in content gaps and adding new heroes.
In the combat system, we also added Just Dodge. There was feedback that ranged characters were somewhat at an advantage, so we felt we needed elements that could give melee characters an edge.
And I think Liza, coming in the next update, is the biggest highlight. She is an important figure in the story and offers a distinctively fun playstyle.
CEO Park Jung-sik = Besides that, there are translation improvements, which were largely thanks to the players and fans. In China, fans actually reached out to us and proactively helped with translation and proofreading, even finding readable lore entries throughout the game to give feedback. Thanks to them, the quality of Chinese translation has improved significantly.
In Brazil, a team stepped up to review the entire Portuguese translation. It's an amateur team working regular jobs, but with their help, Portuguese translation improved a lot as well. We are deeply grateful to all these people who reached out to help us.
Starting with Liza on October 15, Additional DLC Character Updates Coming in December
You are introducing the new character 'Liza' alongside the Version 1.1 update on October 15. Could you introduce her?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Liza is one of the Six Heroes of Orbis and was originally a member of a prestigious elven family. In the world of Dragon Sword, elves value lineage heavily, but Liza broke tradition to save the world, resulting in her banishment. Disillusioned by authority, she wandered from place to place. After experiencing various events, she arrived in Orbis and helped defeat the True Dragon Arugal, becoming widely recognized as one of the Six Heroes. After suffering further events that cost her one of her arms, she currently wanders without belonging anywhere.
CEO Park Jung-sik = The Hero Request telling the story of how Liza lost her arm and the tale among the Six Heroes will be showcased in the December story update.
In terms of gameplay, Liza is an Electric-attribute character. We had Electric characters before, but we felt a need for a damage dealer who could play more aggressively, so Liza takes on that role. As one of the Six Heroes, we designed her action from the start around a more proactive playstyle. In actual gameplay, you can see dynamic, flashy action such as throwing a spear and warping to its location. In a way, we envisioned her as that iconic must-pull character you often see in live-service game updates.
After the Liza update, the overall story of World 1, Orbis, should be mostly wrapped up. Though there are characters whose stories haven't been fully told, we will immediately begin preparing the storyline following Liza.
Content updates such as adding a new Extermination difficulty and a ranking system stand out. What kind of experience are you aiming to provide?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = After launch, gameplay content was consumed faster than expected. Consequently, there wasn't much content left for players once they reached top-tier stats. The lack of endgame content was highlighted as the biggest issue in Steam reviews. This was one of our solutions to address that, and addition of Hell difficulty alongside score ranking was updated with that in mind.
The ranking system was prepared to give players something to discuss, theorycraft, and enjoy together. We thought, why not foster a culture where skilled players take on challenges—similar to no-hit runs in Soulslikes?
CEO Park Jung-sik = Honestly, we didn't expect players to delve into it so quickly and deeply. We constantly realize that players exceed our imagination. At first, we thought about 50 hours of playtime for 33,000 won would be enough, but now we feel we should provide content for players to enjoy beyond that.
You also announced another pass of UI/UX improvements following previous updates. What is the main focus of this update?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = The primary goal is shifting mechanics tailored for mobile toward PC and console buy-to-play games. In particular, we are fixing controller inconveniences with every patch, and designers monitor feedback on Discord and Steam to reflect it in the earliest possible update.
Besides that, we are addressing lacking QoL areas, and once these improvement efforts reach a steady track, we plan to pivot toward introducing new content.
After releasing three new costumes first, you teased bunny girl costumes. What cadence are you aiming for regarding costume DLC additions?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = We are approaching this with two concepts. One fits character Hero Requests and world lore. Othello's new costume is an example—it's the outfit he wore when appearing as a bard in his Hero Request. In December, we plan to release a costume coinciding with Liza's Hero Request.
The second is seasonal costumes. Beyond costumes tied to Hero Requests or lore, players also have separate expectations for costumes. Following the three swimsuits, we plan to add bunny girl costumes in the December update. We intend to gauge player demand and create seasonal costumes accordingly.
CEO Park Jung-sik = With this update, skins for Reina and Eileen are coming alongside Othello. They are costumes matching the Orbis world lore as a set with Calcion's uniform. However, we paid extra attention to details, such as adding a twinkling star effect to Eileen's flag.
Prior to release, you announced four additional characters including Liza. When can we expect to see the rest?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Among the four characters revealed via illustration before release, Liza is launching now, and the remaining characters will be added in December. As Othello's Hero Request is updated, the modeling, names, and personalities of those three characters will be formally revealed. Please look forward to them as you play through the story.
To share more details, Jerome is a Beastkin character who wields a greatsword as large as his body. While it's early to detail his combat style, we're preparing him as a character who swings a greatsword and utilizes parrying. He is also connected to World 2.
Veronica is a member of the Lentus Revolutionary Army and a brawler-concept character specialized in stun. She uses firearms and fists, and as a character shrouded in mystery, checking out her episode directly in-game will be part of the fun.
The final character, Logan, is also a member of the Lentus Revolutionary Army. When initially designed, he was a tank/supporter with a skill kit that protected party members like Dana's golem or provided healing like Tarte. However, feeling that didn't fit our current action direction, we redesigned him into a powerful shield warrior. We expect him to satisfy demand and fantasy for a muscular male character.
Besides the announced characters, NPC Karina was mentioned for addition. Are there other characters being considered for playable status?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Free updates cover up to the four previously announced characters, and subsequent characters will be paid DLC. Players have mentioned various characters due to datamines or illustrations revealed in past interviews; we are preparing from multiple angles, including characters currently in production and ones already made. We are working toward a DLC release next year.
CEO Park Jung-sik = Besides Karina, Lynn from the Amber Merchant Guild will formally appear in World 2, the Sky Islands. The Amber Merchant Guild plays an important role in the Sky Islands narrative. Additionally, Viola, who appeared in the Chapter 8 ending, is one of the key characters in the World 2 story. We also plan to introduce a few more Beastkin characters besides Jerome.
For the Sky Islands update, we are envisioning over 10 characters, and we are considering an expansion-style DLC format that bundles the world and characters together.
While many features have been improved, the pause feature seems uniquely delayed. Is there a specific reason?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Pausing itself is possible, but because the original design assumed a live service, everything is synced in real-time. So even if you pause and stop the game graphics and UI, buff and debuff timers continue ticking because they're handled server-side. Halting all of that would cause the entire game to freeze up.
So we are modifying the overall architecture. Simply pausing introduces too many side effects. If we had built it with single-player in mind from the start, it would have been easy, but because we didn't, it's taking a long time, and we can only apologize. Since players have requested this feature continuously, we are paying close attention to it.
CEO Park Jung-sik = Adapting a server-based game for single-player was a more complex task than expected. Furthermore, because we had to rush a buy-to-play release in just three months quite unexpectedly, we couldn't prioritize this aspect. We had to lower its priority and first complete the work essential to releasing it as a buy-to-play title.
Currently, status ailments, buffs, and debuffs are linked to the server, so we are refactoring them so that pausing freezes them properly. We plan to inspect that area as quickly as possible, check optimization, and push an update. While pausing might look like a simple stop on the surface, we must carefully resolve internal conflict issues, which is why it's taking longer.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to former employees who stayed behind even after leaving the company to help polish the buy-to-play version. Thanks to them, we were able to finish release preparations according to schedule and gained hope to move forward to the next step.
Hound13 Preparing Next Steps: "Packaged Launch of Hundred Soul and Sky Islands DLC Reveal Next Year"
You teased the Sky Islands update even before launch. How far along is development?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = We are still in the phase of preparing resources and concepts, outlining designs, and planning heroes and story. At the same time, we are redefining the scale of content to offer. Since it will release as DLC, we are discussing what new content or systems to introduce beyond just showing new characters or heroes.
CEO Park Jung-sik = The Sky Islands world consists of 4–5 large floating islands and smaller surrounding islands. Because we were preparing this update back during the live-service phase, the rough graphical work for the large floating islands was about 80% complete per island. However, quest paths, scenarios, new character actions, and so forth still need to be filled in, so you can consider us continuously discussing and planning those aspects.
Since it's in the air, complex air currents are formed, and we want to offer new experiences like riding these currents to explore various parts of the islands or move between floating islands. Riding currents will be a core mechanic, and we are examining multi-faceted ideas ranging from Z-axis mini-games to 3D level design. Filling in these elements will take a bit more time, but we expect to show more as we fully begin World 2 work next year.
What is the current status of your development team headcount?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = It hasn't changed much compared to the launch period. Recently, work efficiency using AI has improved significantly, accelerating development speed as well.
However, no matter how much AI we adopt, there are areas where we cannot compromise. Art, in particular, goes without saying. Even our CEO strictly states that AI is out of the question for those areas. We are recruiting additional art staff to prepare for smooth releases of future updates.
Honestly, overseas players react much more sensitively to AI than domestic ones. They are especially strict regarding visuals and emotional engagement. Truthfully, for update videos, having AI read English sentences would convey information much better than me recording voiceover with subtitles. But that wouldn't convey care and sincerity. The genuine effort we put into communicating, preparing update notes, and reflecting to reset our mindset—those are things AI cannot replace.
In the last broadcast, you mentioned that cumulative sales surpassed 400,000 copies. Players seem concerned about whether you secured sufficient development momentum.
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Many people expressed concern in chat and communities. Thankfully, we have secured the momentum and development capacity to deliver future updates and expansions. In addition to the main game, players showed an unexpectedly enthusiastic response to DLC, which gives us tremendous energy. We receive many questions about when the next DLC will release, and as we are preparing various things, we hope to share details soon.
CEO Park Jung-sik = Honestly, because we were taking a gamble in an extreme crunch, we were severely lacking. Being on the verge of whether we could even launch made it hard to attend to fine details, but receiving this level of response despite those circumstances allowed us to look forward to the future.
As such, all developers are contemplating ways to raise quality to the originally planned level for those who trusted and bought our game, and to offer an even better experience beyond that. We have gained momentum to move toward becoming a complete title fitting a buy-to-play game, and we are stepping forward into that stage.
In the last interview, the PD made a promise for hitting 500,000 sales. How close are you to that figure?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = With the Version 1.1 update on October 15 and the December update ahead, we think it's entirely achievable within this year.
CEO Park Jung-sik = When the PD made that promise himself, I just thought he was very brave. I recall him saying he would buy costume materials, but right now he isn't making much preparation (laughs). It looks like there's a lot to buy, including wigs, so you can look forward to how he prepares for it. If current trends continue, we hope to present it as a year-end surprise event alongside the bunny girl costumes.
If sales reach 1 million copies next year including console versions, can we look forward to a new promise?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Once the 500,000-copy promise is fulfilled, I think discussing that with players might be a good idea.
Having accomplished the launch goal and entered a stable phase, what are your future plans and vision?
PM Kim Dong-hoon = Through Dragon Sword: Awakening, it feels like Hound13's identity in action gameplay is gradually becoming known globally. First, we plan to expand platforms to share it even more widely.
CEO Park Jung-sik = We plan to release Dragon Sword: Awakening on PS and Nintendo Switch in the first half of next year, while an Xbox release is currently under review. If possible, we want to launch on Xbox as well to broaden our user base.
As I've mentioned multiple times, turning a game developed for mobile into a single-player buy-to-play title left many mobile remnants, which is regrettable. We are planning a full renewal of these areas for the console release. If all goes well, we should be able to show a completely revamped UI alongside the console launch.
Next, we are preparing the Sky Islands DLC. We aim for a release late next year at the earliest, or early the year after next at the latest. There is another thing we want to accomplish next year: releasing Hundred Soul—our title released before Dragon Sword that subsequently shut down—as a buy-to-play game on Steam.
We are just starting work on this, planning how to elevate graphic quality and adapt content for a single-player buy-to-play title. We must adjust three years' worth of live service content to fit the pace of a single-player game. Also, because it was designed primarily for mobile back then, the graphics might feel somewhat lacking by current standards, so while it won't be a full remake, we want to bring it up to an acceptable level for today. Ultimately, rather than just releasing a buy-to-play package, we aim—even if it takes time—to present action that is more enjoyable than the original version in a single-player format. If all goes according to plan, we might be able to launch in the second half of next year.
Dragon Sword: Awakening received incredible love from global players upon releasing as a single-player buy-to-play game. Looking at trends in Steam packaged games, fandoms seem to carry over to subsequent releases. We hope that by riding this wave and continuing to showcase what we excel at—our unique action identity—even after Dragon Sword: Awakening, fan support will continue, giving us momentum to produce even better games.
As we continue developing on this foundation and establish our footing, we think we can also begin developing new projects. Considering our scale and direction, we believe approaching Steam and console players with single-player buy-to-play games is the right path. We will dedicate ourselves to becoming a studio that delivers high-quality buy-to-play and console games.
Lastly, any final words for players enjoying Dragon Sword: Awakening?
CEO Park Jung-sik = We are simply grateful to everyone who supported and loved our game. Thanks to your anticipation and support, the game was able to launch, and we can look toward what's next. We will work even harder to become a developer that creates games players can enjoy continuously over time.
PM Kim Dong-hoon = We are overwhelmed with gratitude for your immense love. In truth, this game is a miracle just by existing. Surviving through a series of miracles, we will move forward to deliver even more enjoyable games so that miracle doesn't fade. Honestly, we have many shortcomings, yet so many people view us fondly. We will polish Dragon Sword: Awakening to be more complete and feature-rich so it can be a K-game they can be proud of.
