Lost Ark responds to controversial video, makes backlash worse

pcgamesn.com:

While Amazon has promised that Lost Ark will continue to thrive in 2023, a recent broadcast from the MMORPG‘s creators has fallen flat, accruing over 13k dislikes on YouTube. In response the developers have released a second “emergency” Lost Ark Online, discussing the features fans felt were missing from the first announcement – and it has been met with a similar response.

Despite showing off the gorgeous new Souleater and the Mokoko Pirates’ Adventure summer event, it seems like most players wanted an update on fundamental system issues, and how Smilegate is planning to fix them.

Most of the comments highlight the developer’s lack of communication and “romance;” or lack of passion. They also continually make reference to former game producer Keum ‘Gold River’ Kang-Sun, who left the company in 2022 as a result of stress-related illness. Keum was beloved within the community, and his departure appears to have shaken fans – and, by proxy, Smilegate – to their cores.

Since the video released, it has pulled in 2.3k likes and, wait for it, 13k dislikes (thank you, Return YouTube Dislike). The sentiment is clear, and the devs heard it. A second emergency broadcast, set for Wednesday, June 28, features senior team leaders Sang Bok-Kim and Byung Tak-Lee, as well as team leader Jay Jeon sitting behind a white table, on a white background, with white laptops. The whole thing feels vaguely like watching a court trial.

The video does not have English subtitles, but according to MMORPG content creator Saintone, the team issues a vast array of apologies for the previous Lost Ark Online stream. While they discuss the slow feed of content, issues with the new Chinese launch slowing development, and lack of build diversity, Saintone