On May 11th, Pearl Abyss held a press conference call regarding the company earnings results for Q1 2018 and announced the future plans of the company’s games.



First, for Black Desert Online, Pearl Abyss will improve PvP content and Life skill content, and will revamp the enhancement system in Q2 so the game can have a lower entry barrier for new players.



A new region, Mediah, has been added in Black Desert Mobile today. Black Desert Mobile will get more PvP content including Conquest War and Battlefield of Ramones in the near future, and the global version of the game is in the pipeline.



Pearl Abyss is planning to release the console adaptation of Black Desert Online in North America and Europe this coming summer. A new MMO game (Project K) and new mobile game (Project V) are in development and are planned to showcase this year as well. “Project K” will be available on PC and console, and will be an MMO game with FPS and AOS elements. “Project V” will be a light, casual MMO game that will be available on mobile devices.

Below is the Q&A regarding the Black Desert IP and the new games.



Q. When is the date for the global release of Black Desert Mobile?

We are planning to release the global version within a year after the initial launch of the KR version. We will publish the game by ourselves instead of having a separate publisher, except for in China. BDM will be released in Taiwan in Q3, and will be coming to SEA on the same day as Taiwan or after Taiwan. Also, we are planning to release BDM in NA/EU in Q1 2019.



Q. What are your expectations for Black Desert Mobile in the global market?

We are servicing Black Desert Online on our own in Taiwan and SEA, and BDO is very successful in those regions. Mobile MMORPGs are trending now, so we are expecting some good results for BDM as the IP is already well-known and it is an MMORPG.

MMORPGs developed by other Korean companies are doing well in Japan. As Black Desert Online is already popular in Japan, we believe that we will see some good results in Japan as well.

NA and EU are a bit different. Although some games were doing okay, NA and EU are not the region where MMORPGs are predominant. However, unlike other games, Black Desert Online is doing well in NA/EU. Some NA/EU gamers might not like the “Korean style RPG”, but we are continuously working to find the right solution for that. The console adaptation for BDO console will be released in NA/EU this summer, and we believe it will have some positive effects on Black Desert Mobile when it launches in NA/EU.



Q. What will the new games look like and who is the target audience?

Unfortunately we cannot share any details for our new games right now, but we are going to reveal some parts of the game this year. In the general gaming market, MMORPGs do not have a wide player-base. But “Project K” is an FPS game, which is a major game genre. We are expecting that “Project K” can target a wider range of audiences.

“Project V” is a casual MMO, which is a genre that we are confident in. Black Desert Online targeted players in their 20s and 30s, so there aren’t many young players in the game. “Project V” is expected to have a larger player-base with much younger players.



Q. Is there any fixed schedule for the new games? Also, Pearl Abyss recently recruited Minh Le. What role is he going to play in the new games?

We have been working on the two new games since last year. Originally we planned to complete the development this year, but we had to delay the schedule as the course of development changed and the game got much heavier. We will have to see how the development goes to have fixed schedules regarding focus group tests and closed beta tests for the new games.

We are speeding up the development of the new games by recruiting new developers like Minh Le. We have a slightly different position system compared to other companies, but Minh Le is like a Creative Director of our company.

▲ Mediah has been added in Black Desert Mobile on May 11th.

More on BDO: Black Desert Online KR Patch Notes May 10th - Defense effect changes