ASTRA: Knights of Veda Bids Farewell to English Dubbing
Following a trend among gacha games, ASTRA: Knights of Veda will be removing its English voiceovers after maintenance on January 23, 2025. This decision, announced by developer FLINT on January 20th, aims to bolster game stability and enhance localization quality.
The January 23rd maintenance will also see the removal of German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Italian language support. However, Korean, English text, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Thai, and Russian will remain. Crucially, while English text will persist, in-game voice acting will default to Japanese for regions outside Korea. FLINT assures players this change won't affect in-game chat functionality in any previously supported languages.
This move follows similar decisions by other gacha game developers. Square Enix's War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius phased out English voiceovers for new content in May 2024, prioritizing Japanese. Yostar Games' Aether Gazer completely removed English dubbing in February 2024 due to resource reallocation. Snowbreak: Containment Zone also dropped English voiceovers in December 2023, citing an evaluation of player preferences and optimization efforts.
The prevailing rationale behind these decisions appears twofold: prioritizing the language favored by the majority of players and managing the long-term costs associated with voice acting. Maintaining multiple language voiceovers for extensive content updates can be financially demanding. By reallocating resources, developers aim to ensure the game's continued development and improvement in other key areas.
While this change may disappoint some players, FLINT emphasizes its commitment to enhancing the overall player experience.
