2024 is a big year for Pearl Abyss with in-person events, milestones and updates for its Black Desert franchise. The company is still going strong since it was formed in 2010, becoming a leading developer with its MMORPG franchise that features character customization, an extravagant world, and lore.
Last month, Pearly Abyss celebrated a huge milestone for the Black Desert IP, which amassed 55 million players around the world on PC, mobile and consoles. Additionally, the developer made 3 trillion Korean won ($2.2 billion in revenue) since Black Desert Online debuted in South Korea in 2014.
Adventurersā Oasis Anniversary Fiesta
On Saturday, March 2nd, Pearl Abyss hosted a fun-filled event in Los Angeles to give players the chance to meet the team and hang out with other players. Fans who got the chance to attend Adventurers’ Oasis Anniversary Fiesta were treated to buffet-style food, hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, macarons, and many more. Activities included a cosplay contest, trivia, and music. Prizes included AMD graphics cards and CPUs.
“The game is going strong and the community is also more and more passionate over time,” CEO of Pearl Abyss America Jeonghee Jin (JJ) tells Nerd Reactor. “I think that’s also the MMORPG community characteristics. These people live in the game. They are very much bonding with the game community, and I really love their passion and energy.”
Last year Pearl Abyss had four offline events including the Calpheon Ball in December and the Black Desert Festa in in July. This year’s Adventurers’ Oasis Anniversary Fiesta and previous events came from a desire for JJ to bring more offline opportunities for fans, and the team has plans for many more to come.
“I really wanted to bring in more offline opportunities for us to meet with our players but also for them to mingle with each other,” she said. “We’ve been really trying hard to make it our regular activities. It was not really easy to do multiple fly-in events every year, but our team is really confident that actually we can do it. So every year we’re trying to organize a couple of big and small fly-in events.”
As for the Black Desert MMORPG, it is still evolving with new features, and Pearl Abyss is dedicated to balancing the gameplay.
“We really try to listen to all the different player segments and really make sure we take good care of each of them,” JJ explained. “So sometimes the change or new feature we think is going to be really good for Black Desert is also complained by some type of players who really just don’t care about that. We are still trying to balance things out. Just trying to see all the different aspects in the game and trying to take care of different voices, different play groups, and different players.”
Black Desert Console New Class, Scholar
Black Desert console players were treated with a new class, Scholar, which was released on March 6th for free. This marks the 27th class on Black Desert Console, and the alchemist wields a hammer, which is swift and powerful. She has two hammer types: Hammers and Gravity Cores, allowing her to deceive her rivals with variable movements and immense force.
Thanks to PC player feedback, Xbox and PlayStation players will get improvements including smoother, faster animations on uneven terrain, expanded combo options, a strengthened Flow: Golden Thunder CC skill and increased mobility.
Black Desert Mobile Releases New Class, Letanas
On the mobile side of things, Black Desert Mobile received a new update last week featuring the Drakania Awakening class, “Letanas.” The new female character class has dragon wings with the ability to soar into the skies and unleash aerial attacks.
Letanas is an awakened class and has four active skills including aerial attacks and ground-based movement with her wings retracted.
Here are her four skills and what players can expect from each:
- Legacy: Players can switch between Hexeblood and Dragonblood forms for diverse combat options. The Hexeblood form increases skill damage, while Dragonblood applies the PvP Reduction effect.
- Sundering Roar: Players can employ two passive skills to activate this ability. When using Dragonblood, players can harness Letanasā left spear to unleash dragon breath with great distance and range. When employing Hexeblood, players can alternate between both spears, with ease to attack quickly in a wide range.
- Savage Decree: Players can fiercely pierce through enemies in Dragonblood, or use Dragon’s Roar to target frontal enemies in Hexeblood.
- Doombringer: Players can channel surrounding winds to ascend and strike downward on enemies using Letanas’ left spear. With enough MP, a Bloody Zone will be formed, dealing damage and enabling her to control the battlefield momentarily.
What’s next for Pearl Abyss? It’s currently developing Crimson Desert, DokeV, and PLAN 8 with its next-generation game engine.
