Just a day after the announcement and trailer of Blade & Soul‘s next major update for Korea comes a major blow: art director Kim Hyung Tae has stepped down. Kim made the announcement via his microblog, and eagle-eyed readers who watched the trailer for the update yesterday may have noticed that Kim is credited as an illustrator rather than as art director.
Kim’s departure could be a painful blow for NCSoft’s Team Bloodlust in the long run because Blade & Soul‘s appeal comes in part from its brilliant visual design, which many observers credit mostly to Kim. According to the credits, his replacement is Jeung Young Chea, who will be stepping into some rather large shoes as he takes the helm of the art department for one of Asia’s biggest MMORPGs.
In yesterday’s trailer, Kim Hyung Tae was credited as an illustrator, not art director.
Chinese fans of the game certainly aren’t excited about the switch. Blade & Soul has quickly climbed the charts to become China’s hottest MMORPG since its launch in open beta there in November of last year, and in a reader poll on gaming site 17173, nearly half of the 1,000-plus respondents said they “couldn’t accept” Kim’s departure. Less than ten percent said they felt the new art director would be better than Kim.
Still, the world — and the game — moves on. We wish Kim Hyung Tae the best in all his future endeavors, and we should still be able to enjoy a lot of the art he created in Blade & Soul for years to come.
(via 17173)
Related:
Blade & Soul expansion coming to Korean servers; check out the trailer!
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