Korean video games are rarely massive successes in the west, but something about Black Desert Online is capturing the attentions, and more importantly, dollars, of western gamers. Since its release earlier this year, it's already sold 400,000 copies.
It could be that the in-depth character creator is what's driving sales, with players able to fully immerse themselves in the MMO world by crafting an avatar that is just like them, or at least entirely to their custom specifications.
Perhaps it's the combat, which is far more fast paced than traditional MMO combat, as well as being simplified down so that you don't need to learn 30 commands in order to fully confront an enemy.
Regardless, the publisher, Daum Games Europe is confident about its continued plans for western releases, with new content set to show up for free in the coming months. Indeed much like Guild Wars 2, there is no subscription fee for Black Desert Online and all of its DLC will be release free to those that buy the game.
"Considering the upward trend, I expect that the game will achieve over one million sales this year," Daum Games Europe CEO Min Kim said (via VG247). "What’s impressive is these figures far exceed those in the domestic market."
Money too is flowing in from the in-game cash shop, which has as many as 11 percent of all players throwing at least a few dollars at the game. This is much higher than your average free to play title, which is saying something considering Black Desert is far from that.
Have you tried out Black Desert yet? What did you think?
