On March 3, 2016, Black Desert was released in the West and recently celebrated its 5th birthday. We from MeinMMO conducted an interview with the developers in this context. We look back at the past, present, and future of the MMORPG.
What’s going on with Black Desert? The Korean MMORPG Black Desert is one of the most well-known games in the genre and is particularly popular in the West.
In recent years, several updates have been released for the game, including new classes such as the Sage, new regions like O’Dyllita, or the Seasons that make starting in Black Desert easier than ever.
As part of our initiative Find Your Next Game and the 5th birthday of the game, we interviewed the developer Pearl Abyss. Our questions were answered by Executive Producer Kim Jae Hee.
The conversation focused on the development of Black Desert, the current state, and where the game sees itself in the coming 5 years. The region of Europe is to play a particularly important role in that future.
What exactly is Black Desert? Black Desert is a sandbox MMORPG that offers you a lot of freedom. In return, quests and story play a subordinate role. You can level up endlessly, improve life skills, build a network of workers, and even craft a ship to sail the world.
In this context, the MMORPG offers a completely open world, where there is also open PvP. Additionally, there are the so-called Node Wars, where you can fight against other players and guilds for control of certain zones.
A highlight is the action-packed battles and the 22 different classes you can choose from.
“A continuous stream of updates is key to success”
MeinMMO: Black Desert celebrated its 5th anniversary in March 2021. What have you learned in the last 5 years?
Kim Jae Hee: MMORPGs are a genre that is typically operated over the long term. It is accessible at all times and is always there for us. Therefore, the biggest lesson we have learned in the last 5 years is “Never stop.” In terms of consistency, we want to emphasize that some of our loyal adventurers have played the game every day for several years.
If the game had not undergone changes or adjustments over the years, it would certainly have become boring for the players. That is why we have offered a new update almost every week for the last 5 years. We are well aware that providing new thrills – from major updates to small adjustments in detail – plays the most important role in entertaining the players.
We would like to cautiously assume that most of our adventurers are in tune with our constant stream of updates, so they may be disappointed sometimes, but never lose complete faith. Therefore, we will not shy away from anything but continue to work on improving Black Desert.
Nonetheless, there is a “teacher” from whom we have learned on our journey over the last 5 years: the love of the adventurers for our game. With the increasing number of years, we see more and more adventurers who genuinely love and enjoy our game. To give back the incredible love and heartfelt laughter we have received from our adventurers, we can’t help but do our best.
We would like to thank our players once again for their valuable feedback and support, and we will work hard to develop a better and more exciting game in return.
MeinMMO: MMORPGs have been constantly changing in recent years. What do you think is the future of the MMORPG genre in the next 5 years?
Kim Jae Hee: Every genre – not just MMORPGs – has its downtime. It’s about trends, and we can’t predict the future trend precisely. Many players have favorites in one genre and enjoy various genres simultaneously instead of playing just one genre.
In 7 years of live service, we feel that we have to maintain the genre’s core rule, but at the same time, we can also go beyond the genre. We focus on the question ‘what we can do for Black Desert’ instead of ‘what we should do for an MMORPG’, and we have learned how to take some aspects of different genres and apply them to the Black Desert franchise.
We will continue to develop solely for the enjoyment of Black Desert, and one can see the answer to this question when playing Black Desert in 5 years. We do not predict anything, but we experiment. We are confident that we can adapt to the rapidly changing situation as we have done in the last 5 years.
MeinMMO: What role will Black Desert Online play in the MMORPG market in 5 years?
Kim Jae Hee: Of course, we hope that Black Desert becomes an MMO with its own, unique identity, and we give our best for that. We envision Black Desert becoming a game that is so special and stands out from others that people will continue playing it or keep returning after a break.
The advantages of Black Desert lie especially in the vast open world, the highly perfected, action-based narrative, and the endless offerings of content. These advantages are constantly evolving, and the degree of perfection increases over time, contributing to the unique value of Black Desert. We reaffirm that our continuous stream of updates is key to enable this.
The world is changing faster than we expected. The era of electric and autonomous cars is approaching, and cloud gaming is no longer a dream but a reality. We will strengthen the foundations of the game and never stop experimenting.
We do not want to spend time on predictions, but rather spend more time reflecting on the feedback from adventurers through constant updates. If we do that, Black Desert will essentially be the same game, but with brand new features.
For Black Desert, it’s not just about developing the game and bringing it to market. The live service of the game is about constant updates and growth with the adventurers.
We want Black Desert to be a lifelong partner for them.
Europe is so important to Pearl Abyss that a local branch has been opened
MeinMMO: How important is Europe for Black Desert? How many players come from here compared to Korea?
Kim Jae Hee: Europe is one of the most important service regions for Black Desert. We recently established a branch in Europe and opened our own server there. Furthermore, the game is offered in French, German, and Spanish for European adventurers, and we actively support communities in these languages.
We see that our adventurers in the EU region really enjoy our game, and we are looking for different ways to give back to this positivity. I would avoid comparing the EU service to the KR service, as all statistics need to be viewed in their own context. However, I can confidently say that the numbers we receive from the EU service are among the most successful in all the regions we manage.
Nonetheless, we try to look beyond the numbers and connect with the actual experiences or true feelings of the adventurers, which we value more than just a few proud data entries.
Black Desert should become even more professional and the story more captivating
MeinMMO: Can you name one thing you are really proud of in Black Desert Online and one thing you want to improve in the future?
Kim Jae Hee: We have countless things we can be proud of. We can start with our top-notch graphics, breathtaking and exciting action with simple controls, and smooth animations. Then we also have visual effects of great quality, obsessively perfected and renewed sound effects, and our unique content like the knowledge system and the Node Wars. We could literally go on for days just talking about the things we are proud of.
Regardless of all these features, I want to express my gratitude to all the members of our Black Desert studio who have made all these developments and achievements possible.
It’s not easy to bring massive content updates every week (such a case is almost unprecedented and has no parallels around the world), to solve emerging problems in real-time, and to prepare the update for the next week. Additionally, various operational issues may arise during live operations, which we solve promptly and accurately while also addressing long-term issues like game balance and the remastering of graphics and sound effects.
We started with 8 classes 5 years ago and now have 22. Moreover, we have added a number of new regions: Mediah, Valencia, Kamasylvia, Drieghan, the Great Ocean, Port Ratt, and O’dyllita. Nevertheless, we still see room for improvement.
At the moment we are working on improving the direction/production of scenes and making the story more captivating.
MeinMMO: In one of the upcoming updates, you will introduce the first open-world dungeon to the game. Why did you decide to place it in the open world instead of in an instance?
Kim Jae Hee: We view Black Desert as a living world. We ask ourselves these questions as we continue our journey: How would we adapt well in this world? What would make this world more viable and lively? What would make the adventure here even more exciting? These are our fundamental considerations in developing the world of Black Desert.
We tried the generally known “instance” type of dungeon before our closed beta test, but we would like to emphasize once again that the Black Desert we envision is a world where adventurers live together, interact with one another, and build relationships in a single, unified dimension.
Having different experiences with other adventurers in a single world will be an exclusive fun that no other open-world RPG can offer.
Instead, we offer many options to compensate the “convenience” a bit.
Although they are not instances, the battle arenas, the Arena of Arsha, and the Crimson Battlefield provide adventurers with instant access. Since we recognize the advantage and practicality of the system, we also offer Blood Altar as an instance, which serves a completely different purpose than the rest of the content in Black Desert.
Overall, we do our best in the development of the game to expand the world of Black Desert and increase its proximity to reality while simultaneously opening the doors to many new possibilities.
New classes will not hinder other content and are expected to arrive regularly in the future
MeinMMO: You bring about three to four new classes to the game each year. Most recently, the Sage as the 22nd class was introduced. How will you ensure that the many classes are distinct enough from one another?
Kim Jae Hee: A central point when designing a new character is what concept, fun, or fantasy it will offer to the players. We would call this the “unique identity” of each character; while there may be some similar traits, each class has its own concept and playstyle, aside from its level of competitiveness.
As evidence that this variety does indeed attract all players, our player population is quite evenly distributed across the classes.
To go into a bit more detail, we have extensively studied what type of action style would best suit each new character, especially since one of the biggest advantages of Black Desert is its action (combat) system. Meanwhile, we also refer to various data and consider the interaction or chemistry of the new character with the previous characters.
For the Sage, we had these concepts or keywords in mind:
- Ancient
- Magic
- Creation
- and good aesthetics.
From this foundation, we extended the concept of time and space manipulation in relation to the actual functionality of the character and composed the skills accordingly. In hopes of realizing the concept of a “time and space” manipulator, we gave them a unique cubical weapon and unprecedented animation effects for skills.
Every component is designed to build the “unique identity” of the Sage, just as we have done for all other heroes up to this day. We focus on the unique identity of each character and hope we can diversify not only their outward concept but also their actual performance or style in combat.
MeinMMO: Are you planning to slow down the release of classes at some point?
Kim Jae Hee: We introduced about 2 classes per year until 2020 and do not intend to slow down the development of new classes as it does not hinder the development of other content.
We always want to have classes or content that offer adventurers new experiences, and we have tried many things based on user feedback or staff ideas.
We can’t say how many more classes will be released, but we do our best. People from so many different cultures enjoy Black Desert and also have many diverse needs regarding the classes. We will create fun and unique classes based on that feedback.
Self-publishing is intended primarily to strengthen direct communication and support
MeinMMO: In February 2021, you started self-publishing Black Desert in the West. What has changed as a result?
Kim Jae Hee: The most important change is that we from Pearl Abyss can now communicate more closely and directly with the users. Direct and transparent communication with users plays a vital role in enhancing the quality of service and user experience. Therefore, we hope to offer a more welcoming and user-friendly service through self-publishing.
MeinMMO: What advantages does it bring to be the publisher in the West?
Kim Jae Hee: So far, we have seen more advantages than difficulties. We have received significantly more and open feedback, and if we agreed with it, we immediately set out to improve. We believe that self-publishing is the biggest advantage.
I must emphasize again that there have not been any “difficulties”, but heavy responsibility comes closest. We have the heart to provide better service and receive even more love from the adventurers of Black Desert.
As much as we feel responsible, we translate that energy into motivation to serve a top-notch game.
MeinMMO: After taking over publishing, you made significant changes to the loyalty system. You doubled the prices of many items. What was the reason for that?
Kim Jae Hee: The previous products of the loyalty shop served their purpose and proved helpful for the adventurers, but they needed to be gradually revised to meet the pace of our content updates and the growing needs of our adventurers.
Rather than simply replacing some products, we conducted a complete but necessary overhaul. We also plan to introduce special items that will rotate periodically, allowing players to have a broader range of support with greater convenience. We will continue to present this type of update to support adventurers and do our best to create a more enjoyable gaming environment.
Crossplay between PC and consoles is not planned yet, but possible
MeinMMO: In 2019 you brought Black Desert to consoles, and they quickly received content updates. Do you believe they will ever reach the same status as the PC version?
Kim Jae Hee: They are almost identical except for some content that still needs localization. We are aiming for the global service of the game with a global version, and that is one of the reasons for fast and constant updates. However, the speed of updates is based on the playstyle of the regions.
We have tried many different ways to add entertaining content to the game. For example, we released a new class simultaneously on different platforms. The knowledge we acquired over the past 7 years in various regions will be transferred to the console version.
MeinMMO: Can players expect crossplay between consoles and PC at some point?
Kim Jae Hee: We haven’t thought about that yet. However, we always keep possibilities open. The crossplay between Xbox and PS was not planned at all, but the active suggestions from adventurers eventually led us to support crossplay.
Implementing it between a console and a PC would definitely require a lot of research and consideration, but we see no reason to avoid the challenge as long as it is desired by many adventurers.
MeinMMO: We thank Kim Jae Hee for the detailed answers to our questions.
What do you think of the MMORPG Black Desert and its development in recent years? And when did you last play it?
Those who want to know more about Black Desert can watch the livestream on Tuesday evening at 7:30 PM as part of Find Your Next Game, where MeinMMO will present the MMORPG more specifically for beginners and discuss the development of the game.
All the information about Find Your Next Game can be found here: Find Your Next Game: See our program with multiplayer games in spring.
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