Is Crimson Desert Online a new Black Desert Online Spin-Off?

I was just as shocked at this announcement as you guys no doubt are right now. Pearl Abyss just announced that they’re going to be debuting several upcoming games at G-Star 2019 this year.
G-Star is one of South Korea’s largest gaming conventions, taking place every year. They bring together both South Korean developers and overseas gaming developers to showcase their latest titles to the gaming community.
Now G-Star 2019 takes place beginning November 14th and lasts until Novembed 17th. So trailers along with full information will be revealed next week.
However that doesn’t mean good ‘ol Pearl Abyss has neglected to provide info to whet our appetite a little in the meantime.

So there are a few games announced. We’ll go ahead and start this off with what you’re all waiting for, though, because I’m not a dick like that:

DokeV – formerly known as Project V. DokeV is an adorable looking upcoming MMORPG that is targetted at all ages.
DokeV is a casual, family-friendly MMO being developed on a brand new game engine bringing on board CCP Games of EVE Online popularity to assist in development.

Shadow Arena – formerly part of Black Desert actually. I did a video on this and found it to be a pretty entertaining form of PvP.. but hated that everyone just ran away from me until the end of the match.
Unless they were significantly better geared and could 1-shot me.
Since then, the Battle Royale was removed from the game, and Pearl Abyss decided they’d jump into the whole BR craze and try to make Shadow Arena a standalone title. Kinda like what Ashes of Creation did with Apocalypse.

Plan 8 – I don’t think we ever really knew about Plan 8 – but here we are, a brand new MMO shooter.
Pearl Abyss really are trying quite hard to expand into other niches, huh?
Plan 8 is, interestingly enough, spearheaded by the co-creator of the entire Counter-Strike franchise.. which could actually end up being really promising. “could” being the keyword here.
Not much is known other than it’ll be an “exosuit MMO shooter.” Make of that what you will.

Crimson Desert – I know, I know. None of you care about this one, right? It’s only Pearl Abyss’s next upcoming open-world fantasy-themed MMORPG from the game design director of Risk Your Life Online.
It’s only going to be an even better looking, potentially PvE-themed MMO successor to Black Desert Online.
Oh, wait, I’m wrong? This is what you were actually looking for info on? Whoops. My bad. Well, then, allow me to elaborate on this one for you!

In an interview with Pearl Abyss recently, they revealed that the game engine for Black Desert was getting old and felt a little.. dated.
I don’t think this is true – I feel like BDO still looks amazing but Pearl Abyss are obsessed with making games that look better and better so who am I to question them.
With this in mind, they wanted to take the time to develop new games – including MMOs on a brand new engine. This way they aren’t limited by “old tech.” Fast forward to 2018 when Crimson Desert began development.
Pearl Abyss wanted to make something even faster, even better looking – with combat that made Black Desert look like a thing of the past.. so they decided to bring on the lead combat designer of Risk Your Life Online and C9: Continent of the Ninth.
He’d be in charge of making certain that the combat would be possible of taking things to the next level. Honestly, C9 still has great combat – you can ask anyone that still actively plays the game what they think of it.
And Risk Your Life? People continue to talk about that game to this day.. they’re both titles that have left lasting impressions on the community and I’m honestly excited to see where, specifically, Crimson Desert will go.
I know that it’s possible to get action combat better than BDO, I do. I just didn’t think we were at a point that required it yet.

Crimson Desert will take place on the continent of Pywell. It’ll be set in the middle of a war between three different tribes, all vying for survival and dominance.

And.. that’s pretty much it.
That’s all that’s known regarding any of the games.

DokeV looks like something really cute that you can play with your kids. But at the same time it might be something entertaining for people of all ages. We’ll have to wait and see.
Shadow Arena likely won’t take off – I very, very highly doubt that.
Plan 8 is an interesting concept. I can see it doing well if handled correctly, but is there room for a South Korean Counter Strike game?
And finally, Crimson Desert could be amazing. It has the potential to be something truly groundbreaking, truly epic.
If it takes a more traditional route in terms of content – adding in things that players have been asking for for years now, like Dungeons, Raids and other group-related content.. we could see something actually challenge WoW or Final Fantasy XIV.
But with the track record of Pearl Abyss.. at the same time it’s highly unlikely to be nearly that good.
Then we have the problem of pay-to-win, which is an ever prevalent problem in their games. It’s probably the most complained about thing in Black Desert.

But overall, with the success of Black Desert, and the current popularity of both Black Desert for the PC and console, along with the high anticipation for Black Desert Mobile.. do we really need something to replace it?
Will it even be replaced? Is that the goal of the game or are we instead going to have the game run concurrently with Black Desert?
Like take a moment and think.. one of the reasons why large companies don’t normally push out new MMOs when they have an already successful-title is because they’ll take attention, players and even other devs from the current game.

Do we want the playerbase to be split between Black Desert and Crimson Desert?
Do we need Crimson Desert so desperately that it’ll be at the expense of Black Desert? I don’t think so, and I don’t believe that’s what Pearl Abyss are aiming for.
But if that’s not their goal, and the vast majority of Action MMORPG players already play BDO.. then what is the purpose of Crimson Desert?
Crimson Desert’s main competition would be.. Black Desert. Which makes absolutely no sense.
If you play BDO then you know that it’s a game that requires a lot of time and effort devoted to it. You can’t just play it on and off casually.
Or, well, okay you can, but you’re not going to be able to do it competitively. So if you want to play competitively, you’re going to need to dedicate a lot of time to it.
And if you opt to dedicate large amounts of time to the game – like players currently do, you don’t really have much time for another MMO. Which applies to all MMOs, really.
That’s part of what makes an MMO an MMO, and is actually something people genuinely miss about the genre.. dedicating large amounts of their life to a game that is worth dedicating time to.

But overall, Crimson Desert’s success can only come off of a reduction of active players in Black Desert.
The only way it won’t, is if it’s an entirely different kind of game.
Like Black Desert’s current active playerbase has absolutely no effect on Final Fantasy XIV’s playerbase.
BDO is an action MMO with no story, dungeons, raids or competitive PvE scene. Yet it has a highly active PvP community.
Final Fantasy XIV is an MMO with a ton of story, lots of dungeons, raids, and a lot of PvE content to do.. but at the same time doesn’t have much of a PvP community.
So the two games in no way have a conflict of playerbase, nor do they impact each other’s populations. Well, not unless you play both games. But the percentage of players that do is probably fairly small.
However, from what little we know of Crimson Desert.. it’s going to be an Action MMORPG set in a large fantasy-themed world, with a large emphasis on PvP. So, yeah.
Similarities are shared with BDO. Far too many for it to be anything other than the successor to it..

So then that begs the question: If Crimson Desert is essentially the 2020 version of Black Desert – enhanced graphics, improved combat, more traditional features like dungeons and raids, but not at the expense of PvP and freedom.. will you guys migrate over?
Or do you think you’re going to remain in Black Desert?
And, if you don’t plan on moving games, what do you think Pearl Abyss are doing creating direct competition for their own game?
Do you think they’re trying to capitalize on the success of BDO and are attempting to have 2 popular MMOs concurrently?
Or do you think that since launching on various consoles, PC, and now also on mobile.. they’ve come to the realization that from this point on, they’re likely going to stagnate, and have therefore come to the realization that it’s time to move on?

I’m not a game developer so I can’t say, but I know Pearl Abyss are a money-hungry organization, like many are.
I understand the need and reasoning behind expanding – I do. I’m not angry nor do I harbor any ill-will towards the game when it eventually goes live.
But I’m just curious their reasoning behind it.

Should they really sacrifice everything they’ve built up ’til this point to build something new?
Or, maybe sacrifice is too strong of a word.
But let’s be real here.. they’ll be sacrificing two important things: The rate of new content produced for Black Desert, because Crimson Desert will take precedence henceforth.
And team-size, as there will likely be some shift in active team members working on the game so even though the rate of new content will be reduced, the scope of new content will also lessen.
Iunno. I’m excited for the game but like all new MMOs, especially South Korean MMOs.. Just because I’m excited doesn’t mean I’m highly anticipating it.
I think it could end up really epic, but at the same time.. I feel like it could be just another flop.

Either way, on November 13th we’ll get the first official trailer for the game.
Furthermore, on November 14th we’ll likely receive some actual, solid information on the game.
So this is all speculation that will likely have a more concrete answer when the event is over. But it’s something to think about and ponder while waiting until next week.
Maybe even get a little excited for.