South Korean developer Hound13 recently launched a merchandise crowdfunding campaign for action RPG DragonSword: Awakening, planning to release a plush toy of the game companion “Brave Dragon Baby.” However, the timing has left many players confused—the game only officially launched on July 23, 2026, about a month and a half ago, and players are still waiting for content expansions, yet the studio is already pushing physical merchandise.
Pay for the Plushie First?
The campaign is partnered with Makeship, requiring players to pay a $2 deposit first, with the remaining $27.99 (approximately NT$882, HK$219, or RM111) charged 9 days later only if the minimum order quantity is reached, plus shipping and taxes. At launch, only 39 people had participated, reaching just 19% of the funding goal.
Merch Is Here—So What About Game Updates?
Controversy quickly erupted on the Steam community, with some players believing the development team should prioritize fixing the game’s issues rather than rushing to release a companion character that didn’t even exist in the base game. Especially with story updates going silent, suddenly promoting plush toys naturally makes players wonder, “Who’s more desperate here?” Others defended the studio, pointing out that merchandise is handled by third-party Makeship, which doesn’t mean the dev team is diverting all resources to merch.
Is Selling Merch Easier Than Making Updates?
Another faction of players argues that even with Makeship handling actual production, small indie teams still need to invest time coordinating promotion and crowdfunding campaigns, which is why players worry about development resources being spread thin. The more practical issue: DragonSword: Awakening isn’t a large live-service game, and supporters point out it’s a cooperative-focused single-player experience that doesn’t need to follow “infinite update” standards. Ultimately, this debate boils down to a very real question: game content is still waiting, but the merch has already arrived.