It’s been seven years since South Korean developer Pearl Abyss published its debut game, the sandpark MMORPG Black Desert, in Western countries.
Following the PC release, Black Desert was successful enough to convince the studio to release it on several other platforms, such as consoles and mobile devices. It went on to become a huge game with dozens of millions of registered users, and Pearl Abyss was so flush with cash that it was able to buy CCP Games, the Icelandic studio behind EVE Online, in September 2018.
The South Korean developer also started working on a number of new projects, including the Black Desert spin-off Crimson Desert, the Pokémon-like creature collecting game DokeV, and the exosuit MMO shooter PLAN 8. None of them have materialized yet, and Crimson Desert was even delayed indefinitely at some point, though Pearl Abyss is reportedly aiming to show it again later this year.
Black Desert, on the other hand, is still going strong by all accounts. To celebrate the game’s seventh anniversary and with the Land of the Morning Light expansion coming out soon, we interviewed Executive Producer Jaehee Kim to check out what’s coming next to this popular MMORPG.
Firstly, can you talk about the main challenges and learnings from the last year of Black Desert?
First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Western adventurers who have been devotedly loving Black Desert for the past seven years. It is their unwavering support that has enabled Black Desert to continue its journey for this long.
Since its launch, we have consistently updated Black Desert every week with new content that we hope adventurers will enjoy in the following week’s update. I believe that all these updates have accumulated over time, leading to the creation of today’s Black Desert.
In 2022, we challenged ourselves to provide new and enjoyable content to our adventurers. We released several new updates, including the “Mountain of Eternal Winter” expansion and the new co-op dungeon, Atoraxxion: Yolunakia. Additionally, we introduced the twin classes for the first time, offering a fresh and unique in-game experience. We are very grateful to see that many adventurers enjoyed them.
Building on these experiences, we will continue to update the game every week in 2023 as well. We are also currently preparing for our new expansion, the “Land of the Morning Light,” so please stay tuned and look forward to it.
How long does your roadmap stretch for? Can players expect many years of new content coming to the game?
In Black Desert, we are committed to providing major, strategic content updates every week ranging in size, scale, and significance.
Last December, we launched our first Twin Class update, starting with Maegu’s younger sister, Woosa. In addition, we released the older sister Maegu in January. We updated the new season of Node War in February, and we plan to revamp the trading system in March. We are currently working hard to develop the “Land of the Morning Light” expansion, which is coming out this year. We are dedicated to delivering unique updates, such as the Awakening of Woosa and Maegu, new Conquest War updates, and a new class set to be released at the end of the year. We will continue to develop new content so that adventurers can enjoy Black Desert for a long time to come.
With Land of the Morning Light, you’re finally dipping into Korean folklore. Are you afraid those unfamiliar with it may not get all the references, or did you take that into account when designing the storylines?
I believe there’s nothing to be concerned about. Black Desert’s core storyline is based on a medieval European setting with added fantasy elements. Essentially, it involves new and unknown tales of adventure.
Black Desert adventurers have shown they love fresh narratives and challenges. The “Land of the Morning Light” expansion will introduce a new storyline that is easy to comprehend and offers an adventure unlike anything players have experienced before. Rather than being a difficult or unfamiliar Korean story, players can expect a unique and innovative storytelling addition to the larger story narrative.
Moreover, unlike the linear progression of the existing continent, the “Land of the Morning Light” expansion unfolds its story by gathering information, selecting destinations based on the collected information, and completing missions. We anticipate this expansion will provide adventurers with an enjoyable experience of discovering Korean culture as they explore a diverse range of NPCs and unravel their distinctive tales.
Can you give us some information on the size of the zone?
We are currently developing the “Land of the Morning Light” as a completely new region that is structurally separate from the existing continent of Black Desert.
Our plan is to expand and revamp Port Ratt, located at the far end of the Black Desert continent, and transform it into the “Land of the Morning Light”. To give you an idea of the size of this new region, it would be roughly twice the size of the “Mountain of the Eternal Winter” and slightly larger than the Calpheon region.
This will be the first Black Desert zone set outside of the main continent. Do you have plans for more such areas, perhaps even more unique (underwater, in the sky, etc.)?
Black Desert is an open-world game enabling adventurers to freely explore vast territories without constraint. Although players are free to go wherever they want, new challenges require time, research, and effort.
When we initially developed Black Desert, we did not consider the sea. However, due to numerous requests from adventurers for sea exploration, we extensively researched and added Black Desert’s exclusive sea, its beautiful underwater scenery, and hunting grounds. Even today, the vast ocean, much wider than the existing continent, adds depth and breadth to the adventures of Black Desert.
The “Land of the Morning Light”, scheduled for release soon, will be the first step in expanding the entire Black Desert world’s size on the opposite side of the ocean. It required a great deal of research and preparation time, but we persevered and are now eagerly awaiting the adventurers’ new journeys.
Although Black Desert does not limit its growth or adventure for development, after the “Land of the Morning Light” expansion, we plan to focus on the original territories for a while.
You’ve said Land of the Morning Light is ‘full of unique bosses’. How many are there?
The “Land of the Morning Light” takes a fresh approach to gameplay by offering boss rushes as a central gameplay feature to the expansion instead of typical hunting grounds. Adventurers have to use various item settings to conquer each boss and understand their patterns. Our team is dedicatedly working on the development of each boss, despite the overwhelming production difficulty and time required compared to regular monsters, to provide adventurers with new, exciting experiences.
We aim to create challenging, distinct bosses that offer a refreshing experience for players, setting them apart from traditional hunting mechanics. To give an example, some boss monsters summon clones, and adventurers need to find specific hints to distinguish them from the real one. Other bosses have powerful wide-range attacks, requiring players to operate their skills based on their understanding of their own class to evade those attacks. We are developing a wide range of tactics for taking down these bosses, giving players an array of approaches to choose from.
We believe adventurers will discover a new level of enjoyment in Black Desert as they conquer these diverse bosses.
Will there be any new challenging group PvE content in the future? Western players are hungry for more hardcore boss fights.
Black Desert is an ever-evolving game. We have updated numerous territories, and each time, we have put a lot of thought into creating new hunting grounds.
While the basic hunting method involves using skills in a command-based system, which sets it apart from ordinary hunting, we have also implemented various changes, including new patterns and environmental adjustments.
The bosses that appear in the “Land of the Morning Light” update will employ new combat strategies and item settings when players confront them. Players will be able to set the difficulty level of the challenge themselves, making it as challenging as they want.
Black Desert seems to have introduced mostly female classes lately. Are their male counterparts planned?
Black Desert is developed based on each class’s unique concept and combat style, rather than dividing them into male and female categories. Our focus is on providing diverse classes that offer new combat experiences, regardless of gender. The recent release of Maegu and Woosa, who utilize special weapons and embrace the rich Eastern culture, is an example of our efforts to offer such experiences.
We are continuously exploring the creation of new male classes. We will carefully consider the best approach and we anticipate introducing a new male class in the near future.
Our team is always exploring new concepts and challenges, as seen in the recent update of the Twin classes. We are working hard to offer adventurers different experiences by researching new classes, attack forms, weapons, races, and other elements.
I apologize that we cannot reveal any upcoming classes right now, but the good news is the research we’re currently conducting will soon result in our next character classes! We look forward to introducing these new classes soon.
Speaking of classes, did you ever consider adding a Death Knight or Necromancer type of class to Black Desert?
We are considering diverse possibilities for new characters and races, but our priority is to introduce characters with new appearances rather than those that are familiar to us.
I believe that adventurers’ feedback is critical when it comes to developing new characters. For instance, Hashashin was conceptualized based on adventurers’ feedback, and we tested it internally to ensure it would be an enjoyable character before releasing it.
Necromancer-type classes are among the classes we are researching to develop for Black Desert. Once we obtain outcomes from our research, we may eventually unveil a necromancer in Black Desert’s distinctive style to our adventurers. We look forward to when that day comes.
Are you considering engine upgrades such as support for DX12, NVIDIA DLSS, ray tracing, HDR displays, etc.?
Black Desert is constantly researching the latest technology, optimization, and the best game engines. We are currently researching various technologies, and we have recently studied DirectX12. Applying it to the game will take a lot of time, but Pearl Abyss will never stop conducting research.
Thus far, Black Desert has utilized Silicon Studio’s post-processing visual effects software, YEBIS, to add a variety of graphic effects. We have provided remastered options and ultra options that have greatly enhanced our rendering, surface reflection, and lighting effects through graphic remastering. Additionally, we have introduced AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology in-game to enhance both the game’s performance and graphic quality.
Furthermore, Black Desert supports streaming the game on various devices via the cloud gaming platform GeForce Now. By using GeForce Now, players can enjoy Black Desert’s immersive gameplay and excellent graphics without needing a powerful gaming PC.
We are currently exploring different technologies, and if we discover any notable findings, we will reveal the information at a later time.
Thank you for your time.
