At the recent G-Star 2019 in Seoul, South Korea, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Jason Jung, the Lead Producer for Crimson Desert, the next-generation MMORPG coming from Pearl Abyss (Black Desert Online). While the newly announced title wasn't quite ready to show itself in any live gameplay demonstrations, Mr. Jung was able to discuss a deeper insight into their plans for Crimson Desert. With combat design being directed by Eter Lee, former combat lead for RYL Online, the reveal trailer showed off a few glimpses to the action while being heavily focused on the narrative, a bit of a rarity for a South Korean MMORPG.

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Will the story of Crimson Desert be linear, or will it branch off depending on player choices or siding with various factions?

There [are] some storylines that can be changed depending on what you choose, but we cannot say much detail on that [yet].

Will the campaign (story) content [to Crimson Desert] be strictly single-player, or will we be able to play it in co-op with other players?

Yes, it is co-op. It is both co-op and there is one storyline by himself. [Editor’s note: for solo play?]

One of the main criticisms for Black Desert by Western players is the lack of challenging PvE content, such as dungeons and raids. Will there be plans to [address this] in Crimson Desert?

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We are fully aware of the criticisms. As you can see during the videos, we are really focused on the PvE players. We are very committed to making those experiences.

Overall, what kind of MMO content will be in Crimson Desert?

Of course, there’s combat with massive [numbers of] players fighting for a castle; those kinds of contents will be there [in Crimson Desert]. We really think that the true experience of MMORPG should involve a lot of trade between players and interactions. We want players to experience the preparation of massive battles or trading between bands and corporations. That’s what we are looking for.

What can you tell us about the PVP in Crimson Desert?

While a lot of information is still confidential, the basic systems of PVP from Black Desert will be there. We’re really focusing on the PVE content and even for PVP, there will be elements of cooperation.

So content like PvPvE?

Yes, that sounds right.

What improvements have you made to the engine for Crimson Desert?

We cannot say improvements because it is a total recreation of the engine [used in Black Desert], a brand new engine. As you can see from the video, it is all in-game footage. The quality of the [Black Desert] engine has been upgraded to another level. Also, the productivity of the engine went up. [The reveal video] has no [Adobe] After Effects or Premiere.

Are there new implementations [in the engine], such as ray tracing or HDR? New features that appeal to Western audiences with ultra-powerful PCs, and supported by next-generation consoles.

Ray tracing, HDR, TAA, all of it, SSAO, the rendering pipeline.

So, [Crimson Desert] does support ray tracing and HDR?

Yes, we fully support that and ray tracing is basic for us. I’m not a programmer, so I cannot say the exact name of the tech that we use, but it’s cool!

Are you targeting a console release for Crimson Desert? If so, will you target the next generation of consoles or the current [generation]?

It’s undecided, but [my] personal view is that [I] prefer the next generation.

Will there be any cross-play between the various platforms as that’s becoming more and more common?

Yeah.

What do you think about Google Stadia and cloud gaming in general?

It’s not just my personal opinion, but [Pearl Abyss] is very positive about it. We are monitoring the situation very closely.

Thank you for your time.