In a recent interview, CEO Jeonghee Jin of Pearl Abyss North America revealed that the developer’s focus is now less on a single genre. With upcoming projects such as Crimson Desert or DokeV, it should be demonstrated that connecting communities can also work outside of MMORPGs.
Why does Pearl Abyss want to move away from MMORPGs? According to CEO Jeonghee Jin of Pearl Abyss North America and her interview with GamesIndustry.biz (via gamesindustry.biz), younger generations are interested not just in one but in multiple genres.
Most kids play a few shooters, but sometimes also a strategy game or an MMORPG. I see this pattern often. This requires game companies to act smarter, and depending on who your target audience is, you also need different monetization or business strategies.
Jeonghee Jin, CEO of Pearl Abyss North America, interview with Brendan Sinclair, gamesindustry.biz
Different genres thus offer the opportunity to apply different business practices, such as DLCs. It is therefore not surprising that big names like Pearl Abyss want to jump on this bandwagon and intend to expand their portfolio with other genres.
What projects were discussed? On one hand, it was about Crimson Desert, the former successor to Black Desert – an MMORPG that, according to the manufacturer’s claims, counts among the largest MMORPGs in the world with 20 million players (via Steam). According to the criteria of mmo-population.com, it is still among the TOP 20 of all MMOs (via mmo-population.com).
Crimson Desert was originally supposed to inherit Black Desert Online. However, it has been clear since at least 2023 that Crimson Desert will not be an MMORPG and is also not set in the same world as its namesake. This was confirmed again by CEO Joenghee Jin in the interview.
Check out a trailer for Crimson Desert here.
The other project that the CEO of Pearl Abyss North America discussed in the interview goes by the unusual name DokeV. Similar to Pokémon, players will be able to capture and use creatures in an allegedly open world. While it is also not supposed to be an MMORPG, it will provide the opportunity to compete against each other.
The name, by the way, comes from Korean mythology. According to CEO Joenghee Jin, DokeV is derived from “Dokkaebi”, which means “mythical tricksters of Korean folklore”. The CEO compares these mythical tricksters to “goblins”.
Furthermore, the CEO admitted to being initially skeptical about the name choice, as typically English titles are used for Korean games in the West.
Check out a music video for DokeV here.
CEO says: Communities exist both online and offline
How does Pearl Abyss want to involve the community? According to statements by CEO Jeonghee Jin, Crimson Desert remains a game focused on single-player. However, they still want to stay connected with the community. Thus, the CEO of Pearl Abyss North America says that there are communities “[…] both online and offline”.
She explains that they could proceed with DLCs, sequels, major expansions, and regular updates, similar to the principle of weekly updates for MMORPGs, such as their own Black Desert Online – but just a bit slower.
Especially the experiences from the aforementioned MMORPG are what Pearl Abyss wants to use for the ongoing support of their games and contact with the community.
DokeV, on the other hand, was realized out of the developers’ desire to play the MMO with their children while incorporating more of their own culture. This way, the MMO is intended to appeal to players already at home and create a sense of community there while being expanded with MMO elements.
What do you think? Is Pearl Abyss’s future direction wise and are business models like the gacha system in Genshin Impact for example the future? Share your thoughts in the comments.
