ASTRA: Knights of Veda Bids Farewell to English Dubbing
Following a trend among gacha games, ASTRA: Knights of Veda will be removing its English voice-over option after maintenance on January 23, 2025. This decision, announced by developer FLINT on January 20th, aims to improve game stability and enhance the quality of other language localizations.
The January 23rd maintenance will also remove support for German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Italian. Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Thai, and Russian will remain supported. However, the crucial change is the removal of English voice acting. For players outside Korea, the in-game voice option will default to Japanese. This change, FLINT clarifies, will not affect players' ability to use any of the removed languages for in-game chat.
While this may disappoint some players, FLINT assures its community of its commitment to providing improved services and experiences.
A Growing Trend in Gacha Games
ASTRA: Knights of Veda isn't alone in this decision. Several other popular gacha titles have made similar adjustments:
- War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: Square Enix removed English voice-overs for new content starting in May 2024, prioritizing Japanese for future updates.
- Aether Gazer: Yostar Games removed all English voice-overs in February 2024 due to financial constraints, reallocating resources to improve other aspects of the game.
- Snowbreak: Containment Zone: Amazing Seasun Games removed English voice-overs in December 2023, citing an evaluation of player preferences and the pursuit of an optimal gaming experience.
The Rationale Behind the Changes
These decisions appear to stem from two primary factors: player language preferences and resource management. Prioritizing the language used by the majority of players is a logical business decision. Furthermore, maintaining English voice-overs for years of ongoing content is a considerable expense. Reallocating these resources allows developers to focus on long-term game health and improvements that players value most.
