The upcoming MMORPG Black Desert has three regions, but some countries like Turkey, Brazil, or Australia are not included in any of them. An IP block keeps them away.
As the European version of Black Desert was slowly taking shape, the Korean and Russian versions of Black Desert raised IP blocks. No one outside their region should now play their Black Desert.
This wasn’t actually a big deal, as it was assumed that the western version of Black Desert would then be the “international version.” One with English language that anyone could play who is not based in Asia or Russia.
But this assumption turned out to be false. Because the “North America and Europe” version of Black Desert has also received an IP block. This now excludes people from Turkey, South America, Africa, Australia, and from many other regions of the world from playing any version of Black Desert. They are not happy about this, feeling once again left out by the MMO world and (quote) “treated like crap.”
Petition started, publisher points to the developer Pearl Abyss
A petition has been started on Change.org. It is directed at the developer Pearl Abyss and at Daum. They are demanding the removal of the IP block from the western version. They have now collected 2750 signatures. Here is the link to the petition.
At publisher Daum, which distributes the game in South Korea and here in the West, they say: We cannot change anything about this. That is up to the developers, who hold the rights. We cannot serve these markets, that would be a conflict of interest with the developer Pearl Abyss.
They have suggested that they want to explore these target markets in other ways. Daum is not aware of these plans and cannot comment on them.
