Director Jae-hak Jeon is stepping down from his role leading Smilegate’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game Lost Ark after approximately three years at the helm, gamevu.co.kr reported. Jeon decided to leave the director position to take responsibility for failing to meet player expectations, notably due to difficulties with extreme raid difficulty adjustments.
Leadership Transition and the 8th Anniversary Timeline
Smilegate announced the leadership change during an official live broadcast titled On Air on Oct. 29. General Manager Keum Kang-sun appeared on the broadcast to explain Jeon’s departure and outline the upcoming development structure. The company set Jeon’s departure date around the game’s upcoming eighth anniversary next week, after which handoff procedures will take place. Jeon will not leave the development organization entirely; instead, he will step away from the director role to focus on hands-on practical tasks such as raid development.
Lee Byung-tak was appointed as the new game director of Lost Ark following Jeon Jae-hak's resignation on October 29.Incoming director Lee stated, "I will fix each and every thing that went wrong so that all of you can laugh and enjoy the game again." https://t.co/AQPfVW4CAF
Byung-tak Lee will take over as the third director of Lost Ark. Smilegate plans to maintain organizational continuity and existing development experience while transitioning to this new leadership team under Lee.
Apology Over Raid Difficulty and Broadcast Decisions
During the live broadcast, Keum addressed recent operational issues and content difficulty controversies directly. He acknowledged that the team failed to properly adjust the difficulty of extreme raids, falling short of the gaming experience players anticipated. Keum also discussed why he personally hosted a previous live broadcast instead of Jeon. He stated that management believed having the former director step in directly was the best way to address the crisis, but conceded that the decision was ultimately a mistake.
Jeon absorbed this weight heavily. He struggled to establish long-term direction for the title, leading to deep reflection over whether he should continue serving as director.
Future Content and Winter Update Plans
Incoming director Lee expressed a positive outlook on the game’s path forward during the broadcast. Lee stated that fixing current issues step-by-step and steadily rolling out engaging content will help players enjoy the game again with a smile. The development team has prepared winter update content since the summer season, aiming to deliver enjoyable gameplay experiences to the community.
