Pearl Abyss

Korean developer and publisher Pearl Abyss scored three top awards this past week in MMORPG.com’s annual 2023 Player Choice Awards, winning Best MMO of the Year for Black Desert Online (PC), Best Mobile MMO of the Year for Black Desert Mobile, and Best MMO Expansion of the Year for Land of the Morning Light on all platforms.

High ranking North American MMO game website MMORPG.com saw 1,500 readers submit their votes during a two week period in November and December, noting that 2023 has been an incredible year full of high-quality games amidst a difficult span of disheartening layoffs and closures.

Managing Editor Joseph Bradford paid respect to Pearl Abyss’ efforts in 2023 with this summary in the Players’ Choice Best MMO of the Year write-up:  

“Black Desert fans had plenty to celebrate this year, and the sheer volume of updates, improvements, releases and more that Pearl Abyss has pumped out is incredible. Its Twin classes of the Woosa and Maegu have brought new ways to play Black Desert since the beginning of the year, while its tentpole expansion, The Land of the Morning Light brought new life, a beautiful new region, and incredible stories to the Black Desert universe. 

“Pearl Abyss didn't slow down from their either, bringing the expansion to its console and mobile versions before the year was out, improving the experience based on player feedback, hosted player events at PAX West, in New York, and during TwitchCon, and even brought a Mythical Doom Horse to the party for good measure. New high-level region Ulukita was released just a few months after the expansion, and the team introduced endless season servers based on player wishes. It's been a banner year for the MMORPG, and if the pace of updates this year is any indication, the team won't be slowing down in 2024.”

See all of MMORPG’s Player Choice Awards here.