In several interviews, senior personnel from Black Desert Online faced numerous questions – they believe that Buy2Play will be beneficial for the game.
Confident in Sales
The Marketing Manager, Rick van Beem, is absolutely convinced of the Buy2Play model in the West. The decision for this step was not easy, but it seemed to be the best method. On one hand, because the Free2Play MMO market is currently very saturated, and on the other hand, because Black Desert is “of such high quality” that it can reasonably demand direct payment.
Ultimately, it helps the balance of the game – as one does not have to deal with any Pay2Win items from the real money shop. While they still want to have a real money shop, it will only focus on cosmetics and quality of life. An increase in character power is excluded.
Another question focused on the “sexy” content that can be found in Black Desert – such as lingerie and underwear. Here they want to be cautious and “westernize” the game to avoid certain issues that western players have with certain provocations that are perfectly normal in the Korean market.
In the future, they would not be opposed to a console version and would be pleased to see Black Desert on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 someday – but currently, they are completely focused on the PC version.
Also, Daniel Loehr, the Project Manager, once again addresses the topic of the Buy2Play model. In his opinion, this model has a “premium” feel in the West, and Free2Play has failed in many places. He mentions that there have been many recent failures in adapting Free2Play games (though he doesn’t name it, he probably means WildStar). Black Desert Online is different because it would provide content for several months at launch and satisfy the fans.
For more information about the game, you can visit our Black Desert topic page.
