BTS World, the game dedicated to the globally renowned K-pop band BTS, will be discontinuing its services by the end of December
BTS poses for a 'BTS World' photo
BTS World, the game dedicated to the globally renowned K-pop band BTS, will be discontinuing its services by the end of December. Netmarble, the company behind the game, made the announcement on BTS World's official forum. Consequently, the game has already been pulled from the Play Store and App Store and is no longer available for downloads.
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Chapter 22, which was released on June 2, 2022, marked the final update to BTS World. In gratitude to their fans, Netmarble enhanced the game's user experience by increasing the drop rate for 5-star cards, offering more gems, and ensuring every card was available for purchase in the DNA store, rather than a select few.
The discontinuation has led to a surge of requests from fans, urging NetMarble to archive the unique content BTS created specifically for the game, given that many have yet to complete their journey through the whole game. BTS are known to have created a stunning musical multiverse through their lyrics, music videos and photoshoots leading to torrential spirals of BTS theories by fans. A similar marvellous universe was created in this game, which is what attracted fan to the game.
As a consolation, ARMY, the group's massive global fanbase – have almost four months left to immerse themselves in the game. This isn't the first time a BTS-themed game has faced discontinuation. In June 2020, SuperStar BTS also ended its services despite its immense popularity and unique playstyle.
Despite how frustrating the game was at times it gave us so much like all the precious videos and clips of Bangtan hilarious acting or playing with kids and also, their amazing OST https://t.co/dG7EZdCfeb pic.twitter.com/WtVq6mkoKF
— Aurelia⁷ 💜 (@AureliaOT7) September 5, 2023
BTS World game is a part of ARMY collective memory. That cool game brought us a whole OST, a beautiful MV, videos of acting BTS in-game, countless pictures and, of course, another part of the BTS multi-verse storytelling. Thank you to everyone who worked on it! 💜 https://t.co/Q0CVVFxZnQ
— Lyna⁷ (@Lyna91Fr) September 5, 2023
Does a content archive exist? It’s upsetting to think about how much will be lost—from the card photos, to the storylines most people never got to play to :/
— 🦈 ✵⁷ (@remedyinamelody) September 5, 2023
On September 4, the creators officially confirmed the app's imminent discontinuation and outlined the refund process. Their statement read: "Hello. This is BTS WORLD. We would like to thank all the managers who have loved BTS WORLD so far. We will provide you with information regarding refunds, so please take note of this and avoid any inconvenience." Refunds are scheduled to begin from September 5 at 11:00 AM, KST and will run until December 5 at the same time. Fans can anticipate a refund within a month after filing their applications.
The game, more than just an interactive platform, showcased the acting prowess of BTS members. Notably, member Jin was showered with admiration for his stellar performance. Musically, the members split into three units to produce remarkable tracks. Rappers RM and SUGA collaborated with Juice WRLD for 'All Night'. BTS members V and J-Hope teamed up with Charlie XCX to deliver 'A Brand New Day', while Jungkook, Jimin, Jin, and Zara Larsson unveiled 'Dream Glow'. The OST 'Heartbeat,', a soft ballad, which JK performed upon special request from fans during a livestream stands out as a particular favorite amongst ARMY. BTS also filmed a lot of special content specifically for the game, which fans hope the agency will retain.