[이슈IN]’April’, the game’Queen’s Idol’, hit me by… Developer “Sorry”

The game’Queen’s Idol’, which is known to utilize the song and dance of the girl group April, is rescheduling the release schedule. The developer aims to launch this month as it has completed development of about 90%, but the situation is in a dilemma due to the recent controversy over’April member bullying’.

Release delay inevitable… Bullying as a controversial variable

On the 4th, Kim Jeong-hyun, head of the development department of Seonbisoft’s’Queen’s Idol’ <블로터>In an interview with, “It was initially planned to be released at the end of March, but if the current situation persists, it will be necessary to change the plan to the end of April as soon as possible, and to May if it is delayed.”

The release timing of the mobile development simulation Queen’s Idol was adjusted because of the’April member bullying controversy’. Sunbisoft signed a license agreement with DSP Media last year and implemented a large number of IPs related to its singer in the game.

Queen’s idol concept art. (Photo = Queen’s Idol official cafe)

In addition to using the sound sources of the singers, it has already invested nearly 200 million won to implement the core contents in the game, such as motion capture for re-enacting the choreography, recruiting and directing the choreography team, and modeling the concert hall. In particular, in the case of April contents, it is known that Sunbisoft occupied a high portion of the content to be released as a demo video through the development note.

However, on the 28th of last month, as the controversy over bullying of April members arose, sparks spattered on Queens idols. At the time, Mr. A, who was the younger brother of former April member’Hyunju’, told the online community, “My sister was bullied within the group.” .

DSP Media, the agency of April, responded by saying that it was’unfounded’ through an official position, but as other disclosures continued, a battle of truth took place. In this process, advertisers such as Geborin (Samjin Pharmaceutical), Post (Dongseo Food), Muhak Soju, JSTina, etc., who used April member Naeun as a model, began responding by converting the advertisement to private or deleting the advertisement.

(Photo = Capture video of the contents of April-Lara Lira performance in Queen’s Idol)

Seonbisoft, a developer, is also in trouble. However, the problem is that it is difficult to delete all the contents related to April, which is one of the core, and work again with the progress of game development.

On the 3rd, Sunbisoft said through the Queen’s Idol official cafe, “It is impossible to develop new content that can replace the content in a situation where more than 90% of the development has been completed. Please,” he said.

He added, “At the latest, we will make advance reservations among borrowers, and in April, we will find a breakthrough and share the related details in the direction of revising the plan to provide service.”

(Photo = Queen’s Idol official cafe)

In a situation where it is inevitable to edit content related to April, Seonbisoft is focusing on reinforcing other contents such as personal broadcasting, personnel management for hiring managers and stylists, idol training, record production, and concerts. It is reported that it is planning to launch in late April to May, including the time it takes to revise the content and improve the game’s completeness.

“It is a pity that the release date has been delayed due to the occurrence of unexpected variables from last year,” said Kim Jung-hyun. “If you wait a little, we will come to you with a fun and complete game.”

Another variable after the publisher crisis

In fact, Queen’s Idol is a game that has gone through many twists and turns from development to release. In 2019, Sunbisoft signed a publishing contract with Sky Entertainment for Queen’s Idol, then named’Idol Co., Ltd.2′. Sunbisoft’s previous work’Love Idol Co., Ltd.’ recorded 1.5 million downloads globally, and it was decisively known as K-pop content among overseas users.

(Photo = Sky Entertainment, Sunbisoft)

The game was being developed based on the differentiated game nature of managing the idol’s training schedule in order to nurture 12 abilities such as vocal, dance, and acting. However, in December of last year, the contract with the publisher was terminated, and it faced a crisis once.

In September of last year, the development was put aground due to copyright issues for choreography and sound sources, but the crisis was overcome by signing a license agreement with DSP Media. Sunbisoft, which continued development even after the contract with the publisher was terminated, raised expectations by releasing its first development note on December 25 last year, but this controversy faced another crisis.

Meanwhile, Sunbisoft is not reviewing claims for damages or legal actions against DSP media. “DSP media was the only entertainment company that had various levels of sound source and choreography copyrights, etc.” “We didn’t get in touch because there was nothing decided on the direction.”