Geum Kang-seon, head of headquarters, clarifies the censorship controversy in the Korean version of ROA 2023.07.01 16:03 Game Mecca Reporter Kim Mi-hee
▲ Geum Kang-seon, head of the headquarters at the time of the broadcast in May 2022 (Photo source: Captured from the special broadcast of Lost Ark on May 13, 2022)
Suspicion arose that the Korean version of Lost Ark was censored in accordance with Chinese content. This is because the appearance of zombie monsters has changed to human after the update on the 28th. Regarding this, Geum Kang-seon, head of Smilegate RPG, explained that the domestic and overseas versions are separate, and that the previous update incorrectly applied the overseas version to the domestic version.
The reason why domestic users pointed to China for the part that changed the zombie monster’s appearance to a human is because of the limited expression due to local game review standards. Chinese authorities prohibit the expression of bones, skeletons, and corpses in games, and World of Warcraft and League of Legends are also in service by modifying the appearance of characters so that parts that do not meet local standards, such as bones, are not revealed.
Here, there was no reason to change the appearance of existing monsters in Korea. Therefore, it was pointed out that it is trying to achieve development and operational efficiency by integrating the Korean and Chinese versions in accordance with Chinese standards. In particular, during the Lost Ark broadcast on the 28th, the production team revealed that there are separate live teams for each region for overseas services. If the allegations raised this time are true, this too could be seen as an act of trying to cover up the criticism with content that is different from the facts.
Regarding this, Geum Kang-seon, head of Smilegate RPG, posted a notice on the official website of Lost Ark on the 1st to clarify the suspicion. Director Geum said that the domestic and overseas versions are completely separated, and that overseas versions are operated in a way that reflects local changes. And he emphasized that this policy will not change in the future.
However, in the update on the 28th, the monster appearance changes that should have been included in the overseas version were incorrectly included in the domestic version, and the patch notes were also written accordingly, explaining that the wrong information was conveyed to users. The misapplied update information included in the patch notes has been deleted as of the 1st, and the appearance of the monsters will be modified on the 5th.
In addition, there will be an official broadcast explaining the issues raised so far. Geum Kang-seon, head of the headquarters, said, “It is true that it is true that we have been very anxious about future services to simply dismiss it as a mistake. In the first place, from the design stage of domestic services, we took into account overseas services (for example, because we did not want to work twice), and (users) Because you might be concerned.” The broadcast talks about the impact of overseas releases, future directions, and the reason for operating without a general director. However, the broadcast time and cast have not yet been revealed.
