Russian players of Black Desert are left in the lurch. All of their character data has been deleted – presumably irretrievably.
For many MMO players, this represents a catastrophic failure: all characters and all gameplay data of the account have been deleted. This has now happened to players of Black Desert in Russia. The reason is likely a change of publisher.
What happened? In Russia, the publisher of Black Desert was previously “GameNet”. However, they will no longer be the publisher. Pearly Abyss, the game’s developer, wants to market Black Desert themselves in Russia.
Now, after this announcement, the Russian servers of Black Desert have gone offline, and Pearl Abyss has announced that they have no way of accessing user data – and thus the characters and account information.
GameNet is considered “shady”: The publisher GameNet is not well regarded among Russian players. Many consider the publisher to be “incompetent” and very short-sighted. Among players, there is suspicion that GameNet only wants to “squeeze as much money as possible from players”.
Fans suspect that Pearl Abyss did not want to extend the contract with GameNet and will henceforth market the game themselves in Russia.
Apparently, GameNet did not want to accept this and is now using a legal clause that allows them not to hand over user data (and therefore also the game data of the servers).
What does this mean for the players? Nothing good. So far, it appears that Russian players have lost all characters, playtime, and purchased items forever. Whether there will still be a concession from GameNet or an agreement between Pearl Abyss and GameNet remains doubtful.
Uncertain future: Pearl Abyss is facing the difficult task of re-engaging fans in Russia.
Black Desert is booming, even though it feels “dead” to many.
Whether there will be special incentives for a fresh start on the Russian servers remains to be seen. However, most players are likely to turn their backs on the game after this massive loss.
Currently, you can get Black Desert for free – you just have to level up very quickly!
