English Dub Vanishes in ASTRA: Knights of Veda, Mirroring Gacha Trend

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 scheduled for 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 result in 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 switch to Japanese for regions outside Korea. FLINT assures players this change won't affect in-game chat functionality in any of the removed languages.

This move follows similar decisions by other gacha developers. Square Enix's War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Yostar Games' Aether Gazer, and Amazing Seasun Games' Snowbreak: Containment Zone have all either partially or completely discontinued English voiceovers, citing various reasons. These include prioritizing the language preferred by the majority of players and managing the long-term costs associated with voice acting for multiple languages.

The developers' rationale often centers on resource allocation and player preference. Maintaining multiple language voiceovers is expensive, especially over the extended lifespan of a gacha game. Redirecting these resources allows developers to focus on improving gameplay, performance, and the addition of new content.

While this change might disappoint some players, FLINT remains committed to providing a positive gaming experience. The removal of English voiceovers, while potentially regrettable, reflects a growing trend within the gacha industry driven by financial considerations and a focus on optimizing resource allocation for the long-term health and sustainability of the game.