Webzen and Hound13’s DragonSword dispute has officially moved from messy business drama into lawsuit territory.
The Korean publisher announced on April 21 that it has filed legal action against Hound13 after the developer revealed plans to launch DragonSword: Awakening independently on Steam. Webzen says Hound13 does not have the proper publishing rights to do this, because Webzen’s original publishing deal for Dragon Sword is still valid.
For SEA players watching this from Malaysia, this matters because DragonSword: Awakening was being positioned as a global buy-to-play Steam release — basically the version many of us would actually be able to access without jumping through Korean server hoops. Now, depending on how the case goes, that release could be delayed, blocked, or thrown into even more confusion.
How Dragon Sword ended up in a legal fight
Dragon Sword was first revealed as Project D, then officially introduced in December 2022 as a free-to-play open-world action RPG. The game launched in Korea in January 2026 with Webzen handling publishing duties.
Things went sideways fast. About a month after launch, Hound13 said it would end its publishing contract with Webzen, pointing to an unpaid minimum guarantee. In publishing deals, a minimum guarantee is money the publisher agrees to pay the developer regardless of how much revenue the game makes.
Hound13 claimed Webzen had not paid the remaining balance because of concerns over the developer’s financial condition and whether development could continue smoothly. The studio said it would keep Dragon Sword running for three more months under the contract while it looked for another publisher or prepared to self-publish.
Webzen pushed back immediately. The publisher argued that Hound13 could not simply terminate the agreement on its own without Webzen agreeing to it. Webzen also suspended Dragon Sword’s payment functions and said it would fully refund in-game purchases made since launch, framing the move as consumer protection.
Webzen says it already invested heavily
According to Webzen, it invested around 30 billion won, or roughly US$20.3 million, in January 2024 to support Dragon Sword’s development and secure publishing rights. The game had reportedly been expected to finish development by March 2025, with that funding also meant to cover operations for a year after development ended.
But development stretched longer than expected, and Hound13 reportedly ran into financial problems. Webzen says it continued supporting the project and even paid part of the minimum guarantee earlier than required, since the full MG was originally meant to be paid after official launch.
On March 3, Webzen stated that Hound13’s termination notice did not meet the legal conditions needed to end the contract. Webzen also said it had paid the full MG on February 27 to avoid disrupting service. Hound13 reportedly acknowledged receiving the payment, but argued that the money should have arrived on the originally agreed date, and that late payment did not automatically undo the contract termination.
Steam version now caught in the middle
The biggest flashpoint came on April 10, when Hound13 announced DragonSword: Awakening for Steam. Unlike the Korean free-to-play live-service version, this new version was described as a separate global buy-to-play RPG.
Webzen says this independent release was announced without proper consultation. The publisher argues that Hound13 does not currently hold the legitimate rights to publish the game and that launching another version while refunds for the original title are still ongoing could confuse players.
Because of that, Webzen has filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of its publishing rights. It has also requested a preliminary injunction to stop DragonSword: Awakening from releasing.
For Malaysian and SEA gamers, the practical takeaway is simple: do not rush to wishlist this expecting a smooth launch just yet. The game itself sounds like the kind of Korean action RPG that could find an audience here, especially with Steam accessibility and a buy-to-play model, but the rights situation is still cloudy.
At the time of writing, Hound13 has not issued a new statement responding to the lawsuit. Until both sides show more documents or a court makes a call, DragonSword’s future is stuck in that awkward zone between promising RPG and corporate legal boss fight.
Source: Automaton Media