The Witcher 3 supports numerous languages at launch, such as Korean, for instance. At least, it is supposed to. Hence the problem and all the angry people in South Korea.
UPDATE (12:35 p.m.): CD Projekt RED has apologized to its Korean players, and is offering all of them free copies of the first two Witcher games to make up for it.
The company released a statement, too:
First and foremost, we want to deeply apologize to every Korean gamer who could not enjoy Wild Hunt in their native tongue on launch day. Before I explain the situation, please rest assured — Korean will be added to the game via an update in less than two days, on May 21st.
To get right to the point, the delay in introducing Korean language support was caused by technical difficulties we could not foresee. When we discovered them, we had a decision to make: we could either release a game that would not live up to our (and your) standards, or do additional tests and release a product that would satisfy the Korean Witcher community. Since we’ve put in a lot of effort for this localization to be of top quality, we decided to choose the second option.
However, and I wish to emphasize this, the delay is our fault.
Not a bad way to say you’re sorry.
This was supposed to be the first Witcher game with proper Korean localization. On May 14 (you know, LAST WEEK), CD Projekt RED appeared in a YouTube video, thanking all the country’s Witcher fans:
Fast forward to today, when the game was released in South Korea. Gamers bought The Witcher 3 with the expectation that it would be in their language. Finally! For the console versions, it was. For the PC version, it’s not. This is a big problem in a country where the PC dominates.
Website Game Meca (via tipster Sang) reports the game’s Korean publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia said, “It is true that there was a delay in applying the Korean localization due to development time.” That might’ve been good to announced, you know, before people bought the game, no?
This afternoon in Asia, Bandai Namco issued a formal release, apologizing and stating that the Korean language was not included on the PC version. At all. How’s that for an omission? The language will be added in a patch on May 21.
Online, things are a bit of a clusterfuck. While GoG.com has updated its page to say the Korean and Japanese language versions will be delayed (it seems they are in the same pack). The Steam Store, however, still shows language support for both Korean and Japanese.
The Korean Steam Store page is currently getting bombarded with negative review after negative review. People aren’t knocking the game. They’re raging. Many stayed up late to download the game. Some even took time off so they could play. They feel tricked and cheated by localization that wasn’t promised, but is now delayed after they’ve already made their purchase.
As this article on Naver (via Sang) notes, folks who pre-ordered physical copies of the PC version paid the equivalent of US$65—plus, and it is shipping today. But if you apparently walk down to your local game shop in South Korea, you can pick up a physical copy of The Witcher 3 on PC for around $59, which is slightly cheaper. And you can always put off that in-store purchase until the patch is released.
Below, as translated by Sang, you can read a handful of Steam reviews from Korean gamers. Note that the new Korean reviews for The Witcher 3, including the most helpful ones, are negative:
“Why can’t I change to Korean?”
“It says Korean is supported but there is Korean upon running the game.”
“Why is there no Korean?”
“I’ve waited all night long, and there is no Korean. Shitty ass game.”
“The developers are back stabbing bastards. They’ve mentioned Korea as a special region in their interviews and omit it on the release lol. And now they say they are sorry and it was omitted. They are not solving the issue today but tomorrow lol. You bastards, does Korea look funny to you?”
“Hey hey, why is there no Korean?”
“I bought it because it was being localized into Korean, but there is no Korean. Got fucking backstabbed. I just wasted my money. Why did I buy this? I bought it because there was supposed to be Korean. What are you going to do when there is no Korean and graphics are downgraded too. They have no basics. Fuck..fuck...”
“Why is there no Korean? I’ve been scammed. It said Korean is supported but it’s not there.”
“Why did you fuck us up by group together Korean and Japanese language pack so we can’t even play when it is released? Do you know? It’s like saying the game is out in Poland on 19th but you can play it few days later since it is grouped with German language pack”
“There is no Korean. I’ve pre-ordered it because of Korea but got backstabbed. I am looking for a way to get a refund. How do I do that?”
“I’ve waited all night long and there is no Korean. Are you kidding me? It says Korean is supported on the interface and subtitles which is why I bought it. I thought my eyes were fucked up so I looked everywhere on the language setting and can’t see it. Bait and switch.”
“It was official Korean localization but there is no Korean on the language setting. Backstabbed.”
“I’ve been scammed.”
“Why isn’t this localized? You said it was localized. Why is there no option to change the language to Korean? If you were going to be like this, why did you even bother giving us the thank you message?”
“What’s the reason for not supporting Korean when you said it does?”
“There is no Korean on the language setting. I feel like I’ve been backstabbed.”
“Scammers not supporting Korean. Is there a way to sue them? I am furious.”
In case you missed it, be sure to check out Kotaku’s Witcher 3 review.
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter@Brian_Ashcraft.
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