While wandering around the business halls at ChinaJoy 2017, we were surprised to see Pearl Abyss, developer of the popular Black Desert, having a small booth within the Korean games pavilion. To our delight, Pearl Abyss’ Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr James Heo, and Overseas Business PM, Ms Ginny Han, were gracious enough to answer some impromptu questions. Read on!

Q: What is the current status of the Southeast Asia server of Black Desert Online?

A: We are definitely aiming for at least a Closed Beta test in Southeast Asia before 2017 ends. Languages prepared include English, Indonesian, and Thai.

Q: When Black Desert just launched in South Korea, there were screenshots of the male Ranger class. Why hasn’t he appear yet?

A: *Laughs* We do not actually have an actual playable version of the male Ranger, just basic visual assets.

Q: Pearl Abyss recently bought over a network company, Nettention. How will the technology, ProudNet, be utilized?

A: We bought over Nettention mainly to utilize its technology for the upcoming mobile version of Black Desert. The PC version (all servers, including Korea) currently has a stable network environment, but we will certainly look into integrating ProudNet in the future. But for now, the main usage will be for the mobile game.

Q: Speaking about the mobile version of Black Desert, when will we get a glance of it?

A: We aim to release the first trailer for the mobile version of Black Desert in September.

Q: Will the game be at G-Star 2017?

A: It is not confirmed, but we will work towards it.

Q: The new awakened skill upgrade system was recently announced. There wasn’t really a specific confirmation if this is the “2nd awakening” system, so could you please clarify?

A: *After a short discussion* Yes, you can call it as the 2nd awakening system.