ASTRA: Knights of Veda Bids Farewell to English Dubbing
Following a trend among gacha games, ASTRA: Knights of Veda will remove its English voiceovers after maintenance on January 23, 2025. This decision, announced by developer FLINT on January 20th, aims to enhance game stability and improve the quality of other language localizations.
The January 23rd maintenance will also discontinue support for German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Italian. However, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Thai, and Russian voiceovers will remain. Importantly, while English text support continues, in-game voice acting for players outside Korea will default to Japanese. FLINT assures players this change won't affect their ability to chat in any previously supported language.
This isn't an isolated incident. Several other gacha games have made similar adjustments:
- War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: Square Enix removed English voiceovers from new content starting in May 2024, prioritizing Japanese for future updates. Existing content retained its English dub.
- Aether Gazer: Yostar Games completely removed English voiceovers in February 2024 due to financial constraints, refocusing resources on gameplay and future content.
- Snowbreak: Containment Zone: Amazing Seasun Games dropped English voiceovers in December 2023 after evaluating player preferences and optimizing the gaming experience.
The trend suggests a prioritization of either player language preference or resource management. Focusing on the most popular language is logical, and the long-term cost of maintaining English voice acting for ongoing gacha content is substantial. Reallocating these resources allows developers to invest in other crucial aspects of the game, ensuring its continued growth and player satisfaction.
