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| Pearl Abyss executive product manager Koh Do-sung speaks during a press conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, Tuesday, to announce the launch of the online game "Black Desert" on Dec. 17. / Courtesy of Daum Games |
Title to be available in Europe, North America, China next year
By Yoon Sung-won
Daum Games, a subsidiary of Daum Kakao, said Tuesday that it will launch its new game "Black Desert" on Dec. 17.
The company will allow users to play the game for free, except for some additional paid content. It also aims to extend its reach into overseas markets in Europe and North America.
"We have engaged in market research and other preparation to roll out Black Desert in North America and Europe in the latter half of next year," Daum Games CEO Sean Hong said in a press conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, Tuesday. "We hope that Black Desert will revitalize the stagnant online games market."
Hong said the company is in talks with local publishing partners to launch Black Desert in those regions and plans to take charge of publishing directly in these markets. He added that the company has already established license agreements in Japan and Russia.
A local game development company, Pearl Abyss, led by its CEO Kim Dae-il, has developed the game since its establishment in 2010. Daum Games said more than 100 developers and an additional 100 staff have been used in creating the title.
Black Desert is a three-dimensional role-playing game and has been one of the most-anticipated Korean PC online games. It has drawn big crowds in the three rounds of closed beta tests arranged since 2013.
The game features fast-paced combat and four main characters ― warrior, ranger, sorcerer and giant ― as well as dynamic camera work, Pearl Abyss Executive Product Manager Koh Do-sung said.
Besides combat, users can customize detailed parts of their characters and control them to hunt, cook, fish, collect, plant, manufacture and trade goods. They can also join in a guild of users to cooperate for end-game contents like siege warfare, which they cannot play alone, he said.
Koh said, "We have talked with multiple publishing companies to launch Black Desert in the world's largest market ― China."
Ham Young-chul, Daum Games' Black Desert team leader, promised a stable game service operation.
"We will conduct maintenance every day in the early stages of the launch and continue to release updates. We will also put strong countermeasures against illegal users and abusers," he said. "To give a pleasant game-play experience to more gamers, we have diversified graphic settings into seven levels and downsized the game program for those who have relatively dated desktop computers."
He also pledged to maintain a fair policy that does not hamper the general user experience. Like many mobile games released at home and abroad, users can download and play basic contents of Black Desert for free to "lower the threshold" to enter the game. They can pay for extra contents such as special costumes, Ham said.
Black Desert's success is indispensible for Daum Games, which needs a major hit to survive as a game publisher. The company has become a game channeling service provider, based on existing Daum users, rather than a leading publisher here.
Daum Games was separated from Daum Communications on Aug. 1 before the latter was integrated with Kakao to establish the joint corporation Daum Kakao on Oct. 1. Daum Kakao holds a 100 percent stake in the game company.
Users can download the client program from Dec. 10 in advance, and register for game characters from Dec. 12 to 15 before the service fully launches on Dec. 17.
