Black Desert Mobile has been a runaway success. It’s one of the most popular mobile MMORPGs on the market and has already made over $1.5 billion in revenue. A few weeks ago, Black Desert Mobile surpassed 100 days of service and TheGamer had a chance to connect with its Lead Producer, Yongmin Jo. His words show that Black Desert Mobile not only has a talented development team at the helm, but one that is intensely passionate about the Black Desert universe.
The Challenges Of Bringing Black Desert To Mobile
Taking an established IP like Black Desert and turning it into a mobile title isn’t an easy task. Fans of the franchise have high standards — finding a way to please veterans while working within the limitations of a touchscreen aren’t easy. Jo says that the team had to “focus on the strengths, limitations, and average usage of the mobile platform.” That meant that although Black Desert Online and Black Desert Mobile “share the same universe,” the game had to be built “from the ground up focusing on shorter play sessions, simplified UI, and intuitive, accessible controls.”
Even better, Jo and his team listened directly to feedback from the community. He says that the team was able to “make on-the-fly adjustments” and “prioritized content that is specifically in demand in certain territories.” When developers are willing to mold their game according to community feedback, it tells players that their voice is heard and that they truly have a say in how the world develops. It’s for this reason that Black Desert Mobile has been such as hit with players around the globe and how it was able to stay faithful to its PC counterpart.
Black Desert Mobile Has Big Plans For The Future
Although Black Desert Mobile has added a ridiculous amount of new content to the game over the past 100 days, Jo says there is even more planned for the future. While the first 100 days “were focused on character growth,” the team is now “moving towards growing the entire family of classes a player might have accumulated.” For those wondering, this is part of the reason why Black Desert Mobile asks players to enter a family name when first registering.
Since dedicated players probably have a solid roster of high-level characters, future updates will include ways to enhances these characters as a group. That is, instead of grinding your main account, Black Desert Mobile is hoping to offer users a way to grind multiple characters at once. The team has already started moving in this direction, as the recently released Tower of Trial “enables adventurers to level two characters at once.” Jo says this is the “first of many” features that players can expect to see added to the game.
As for the near future, we can “look forward to World Management, a new strategic element, new region expansions to explore,” and regular updates with “new boss encounters and classes.” Even better — the team plans to update Black Desert Mobile on a weekly basis with “numerous events and smaller updates.”
Black Desert Mobile Is In Good Hands
There’s plenty to be excited about if you’re a fan of Black Desert Mobile, and the future looks incredibly bright for the popular MMO. But what impresses me the most is the fanatic passion of Yongmin Jo and his love for all things Black Desert Mobile. He’s not just a talented developer — he’s also a fellow gamer, maining a Gladiator and running several alt accounts. He wants to “build a legacy” with Black Desert Mobile and hopes that people are still playing “many years from now. At the very least he hopes people have “very fond memories when they think back on their experiences.”
Plus, he truly loves the Black Desert community. The dev team “takes the community input to heart. [They] listen closely to [the] player base and collect their opinions and feedback to continuously expand and enhance the game experience.” And that’s not just a talking point — everything we’ve seen over the past 100 days proves it. Black Desert Mobile is in great hands, and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store.
READ NEXT: Which Mobile MMORPG Should I Play?
