The action RPG "Dragon Sword: Awakening," developed by Korean studio Hound13, has sparked dissatisfaction among some Chinese players due to a Chuseok greeting announcement. Starting September 23, players began leaving negative reviews on Steam.
On September 22, the team behind "Dragon Sword: Awakening" posted an announcement on Steam to introduce Korean Chuseok to players. The post mentioned that people traditionally honor their ancestors with newly harvested grains and fruits, and today also gather with family, share meals, and perform ancestral rites and visit graves.
The controversy centers on a sentence in the announcement: "Chuseok has been a traditional Korean holiday since ancient times." After screenshots were shared on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo, some players interpreted this as Korea claiming the Mid-Autumn Festival as its own traditional holiday. Subsequently, simplified Chinese negative reviews targeting the announcement began appearing on Steam, with some players urging others to do the same.
Many of these negative reviews are not actually about the game's quality. Some players initially praised the game in their comments, but then left negative reviews due to the content of the announcement.
"Dragon Sword: Awakening," developed and published by Hound13, launched on PC and PS5 this July. The game currently holds an "Overwhelmingly Positive" overall rating on Steam, and the original announcement is still visible on the community page; the developers have not yet issued a separate statement regarding the controversy.