ASTRA: Knights of Veda Removes English Dub, Following Trend of Other Gachas

ASTRA: Knights of Veda Bids Farewell to English Dubbing

Effective January 23rd, 2025, following scheduled maintenance, ASTRA: Knights of Veda will cease English voice-over support. This decision, announced by developer FLINT on January 20th, aims to bolster game stability and enhance localization quality across other languages.

The update impacting language support will remove German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Italian voice-overs. Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, French, Thai, and Russian will remain. While English text will still be available, in-game voice acting for players outside Korea will default to Japanese. FLINT assures players this change won't affect in-game chat functionality in any of the removed languages.

This move follows a trend among gacha games. Several titles, including War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Aether Gazer, and Snowbreak: Containment Zone, have also scaled back or eliminated English dubbing. Reasons cited often include prioritizing the language preferred by the majority of players and managing the long-term costs associated with voice acting. Resource reallocation to enhance gameplay, performance, and future content updates is another key factor.

For example, Square Enix's War of the Visions phased out English dubbing for new content in May 2024, while Aether Gazer completely removed it in February 2024 due to financial constraints. Snowbreak: Containment Zone also dropped English voiceovers in December 2023, citing an evaluation of player preferences and optimization of the gaming experience.

Ultimately, these decisions highlight the balancing act developers face between providing diverse language options and allocating resources for the continued success and improvement of their games. While some players may be disappointed, the developers' focus remains on delivering the best possible gaming experience.