Pearl Abyss exploring beyond Black Desert
Since the open beta launch of Black Desert Online in 2014, Pearl Abyss has been synonymous with its flagship PC MMORPG.
But the Korean company has been working to grow its business, opening offices in North America and Europe, bringing Black Desert Online to consoles and mobile, and more recently announcing plans for three new games: Crimson Desert, DokeV, and Plan 8.
Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz at the Game Developers Conference, Pearl Abyss North America CEO JJ Jin explains the reason behind the push.
"Black Desert was going well, but all products have lifecycles," she says. "We believe Black Desert can go ten or 20 years like some other big MMORPGs, but we really wanted to create more interesting new IPs.
"We also believe in the power of content, so instead of bringing in third-party titles, we were just aiming to create more of our own IPs that could serve for another ten or 20 years for the company's future."
Crimson Desert's name gives away its origins as a Black Desert sequel, but Jin says the team pivoted early in development to instead give it an original storyline set in its own separate world. The gameplay will likewise be a departure from its predecessor, with heavily single-player-driven gameplay.
"We wanted to try something new based on the same technology we had," Jin says. "We wanted to challenge ourselves to create something better, something different, something unique, but still something that all the players globally can enjoy."
When we ask about why Pearl Abyss would lean into single-player when multiplayer games are not only increasingly popular in games-as-a-service but also squarely in the company's area of expertise, she rejects the idea of an either/or approach to games.
"I don't
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