On January 21, 2026, Dragon Sword — a subculture open-world action RPG developed by Hound13 and published by Webzen — launched on mobile. It immediately topped the charts on both the App Store and Google Play. Yet most players hadn't even heard of it. There was virtually no marketing.
The following day, global mega-title Arknights: Endfield launched. Whether the timing was coincidence or not would soon become one of many questions surrounding this case.
A Sudden Shutdown — and Why
On February 19, Webzen announced an immediate halt to in-game purchases and a full refund for all players. The announcement came without warning, less than a month after launch.
The reason traced back to February 13, when Hound13 had formally terminated their publishing contract with Webzen. The cause: unpaid minimum guarantee (MG) — a contractual upfront payment that publishers must pay developers regardless of a game's commercial performance. Webzen had paid 20% one month before launch and another 20% on launch day, but the remaining 60% — approximately 2.3 million USD — never arrived. When Hound13 asked for payment, Webzen responded that they were considering shutting the service down and could not pay.
With no MG and no revenue safety net, Hound13 was pushed to the edge. The studio had to place developers on a month of unpaid leave just to stay afloat.
Each Side Tells a Different Story
Webzen claims Hound13 repeatedly delayed development — originally due in March 2025 — and that Webzen had already paid a portion of the MG and was negotiating further investment when Hound13 unilaterally terminated the contract.
Hound13 disputes this entirely. They say the revised timeline was mutually agreed upon, a closed beta test ran smoothly in May 2025, and the January launch date itself was moved at Webzen's request to avoid conflicting with Webzen's own title, Aion2.
The Accusations Behind the Accusations
Following public pressure, Webzen paid the remaining MG on February 27. Hound13 acknowledged receipt but stated it was money owed to them regardless — the termination stands.
Players and industry observers have since pieced together a more troubling picture. Webzen, already holding 25% of Hound13's shares as its second-largest shareholder, had reportedly attempted to acquire an additional stake at face value — far below market price — and pushed for majority control and full subsidiary status. Combined with the lack of marketing and the poorly timed launch, many suspect Webzen's intent was never to grow the game, but to financially exhaust Hound13 and absorb its IP on the cheap.
Who Really Paid the Price
The players did. Those who spent money received refunds, but the game they'd waited over a year for remains in limbo.
The Korea Game Users Association has called for revised standard contracts to prevent developer-publisher disputes from being shouldered by users. Whether this case changes anything structurally remains to be seen — but it has put a spotlight on a power imbalance that has long existed in Korea's mobile game industry.
