Korean game studio Hound13 has announced the launch of a crowdfunding campaign for plush merchandise featuring in-game companions from the action RPG Dragon Sword: Awakening. The development team has partnered with the Makeship platform to open pre-orders for the "Brave Baby Dragon" plush toy, promising that production will only begin once the minimum order quantity is reached.
According to the platform's rules, users must first pay an initial deposit of $2, with the remaining $27.99 plus shipping and taxes only charged if the crowdfunding succeeds after nine days. However, the campaign initially attracted only 39 participants, reaching just 19% of its funding goal, with an estimated delivery time for the finished products ranging from one to four months.
This move by the Korean development team has sparked mixed reactions within the Steam community. Users expressed confusion in the comments section of the official announcement, questioning why the developers are shifting focus to selling physical merchandise just 1.5 months before the game's scheduled release on July 23, 2026, while the game itself still lacks promised content expansions.
The discussion ignited a heated debate over the studio's priorities. Some players pointed out that promoting a companion character not even included in the base game seems odd, especially while story updates have gone silent. Supporters of the project countered that the merchandise is handled by the third-party company Makeship, and emphasized that the game is designed as a co-op playable single-player experience, not requiring an always-online service model. Skeptics responded that even a small indie team without a major publisher must expend resources coordinating such campaigns, rather than prioritizing urgent fixes for issues within the game.