In our section “State of Play”, we look at the status of the 5 major western MMORPGs. Where do the online role-playing games World of Warcraft (WoW), The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, and Black Desert stand just before the transition into the year 2019?
This is the general situation: 2018 was certainly not the year of MMORPGs:
- Many from the second tier had to close.
- New online role-playing games from major publishers are not on the horizon – except perhaps one exception
- In Asia, mobile MMORPGs are on the rise.
Here in the West, the gaming year 2018 belonged to online shooters such as Fortnite, Destiny, or Call of Duty. They rely on short, intense gaming sessions.
Also, large single-player games with long campaigns or epic atmospheric images like God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2 excelled.
Nevertheless, the 5 major MMORPGs in the West are still doing well. Most of the games focus on themselves and try to retain existing players or win back old ones.
The big question for all MMORPGs before 2019: How can they attract new players? How can they inspire the “Fortnite” generation for MMORPGs?
We look at the situation of the 5 major MMORPGs before the turn of the year to 2019 and where the games stand.
Black Desert – Side Paths and Future Promises
This is the situation of Black Desert: The MMORPG has always been a game with great future promises. Pearl Abyss is always tinkering with a feature that is supposed to make Black Desert an even better, more beautiful MMORPG in the future.
But no matter which feature they come up with, Black Desert ultimately remains the same game.
Black Desert is an MMORPG for a very limited target group. Because here in the West, most MMORPG fans miss dungeons, raids, and other traditional PvE content. The story is also often criticized.
The appeal of Black Desert lies mainly in the combat system, which is supposed to entice grinding because it is so much fun.
Additionally, it is immensely tempting to explore the world of Black Desert, trade, and immerse yourself in this fantasy world that promises so much freedom.
As a sandbox MMORPG, Black Desert has a unique selling point in the West, but may miss the tastes of traditional MMORPG players.
2018 for Black Desert: The MMORPG is the big winner of the year – however in a way that we in the West appreciate little.
Black Desert is incredibly successful as a mobile version in Asia and has earned a fortune there, so much that they could buy a Western MMORPG, EVE Online.
For the actual PC game, more zones and a graphical remaster, which has been promised for a long time, were introduced. However, not much else has happened around it.
Therefore, Black Desert also lost some air in the West in 2018. Always just new classes and new zones, while nice, do not provide significant impulse. Especially since we in the West had to wait a long time for new content – Korea is often half a year ahead.
The console ports for PlayStation 4 and Switch are still a long way off. The port to Xbox One is progressing, but at a slow pace. The first beta could not create big waves here.
Black Desert often clashes with its community. There is suspicion that too much is relying on Pay2Win. This regularly leads to negative headlines.
So Black Desert stands at the end of 2018: The company behind Black Desert is certainly doing well. But Pearl Abyss is slowly shifting the focus away from the MMORPG and wants to establish more games. With the mobile success, the Koreans are now eager.
However, there is also good news for PC players in the West: Pearl Abyss has announced big plans for Black Desert again and wants to push a global version, so players in the West do not have to wait so long for new content. Battle Royale is of course also coming.
Here in the West, Black Desert with its design will probably never be a hit for the masses, and much bad blood is circulating now. However, those who love the game will continue to love it and can look forward to an interesting future with attractive new features.
The prospects for Black Desert are good, albeit specific.
This will be important for Black Desert in 2019: It will be important for Black Desert to appear as an attractive and contemporary MMORPG that can retain new players and be successful on consoles.
With the revision of tutorials and the entry experience, they are on a good path.
Otherwise, it would be good to find a better connection to the community again. What gets out is rarely friendly. This can deter players looking for a new MMORPG.
The most read news of 2018 about Black Desert on MeinMMO: Russian players of Black Desert experience the MMORPG nightmare
