Pearl Abyss Talks About New Proprietary Engine Behind Crimson Desert And DokeV

Like most game companies these days, Pearl Abyss has a lot of titles in its pipeline. We've caught glimpses of some of those, such as Crimson Desert and DokeV, and whether or not you think you'll want to play them, it's hard to argue that they don't at least look great. That's thanks to Pearl Abyss's new proprietary Blackspace Engine, which was the topic of an interview by Matt Kim of IGN with the company's Head of Game Engine Division and Lead Engine Programmer, Kwaghyeon Go.

Pearl Abyss's current big title, Black Desert Online, uses a different, older, engine and doesn't look too shabby itself, but Go said that "we felt the need for a new engine with the latest technology for even better quality and performance." Along came Blackspace, which has the ability "to cover multiple projects" and allows "for a more detailed representation of visual depth."

To support the new engine, the company will open the Pearl Abyss Art Center in 2022, which will be "the largest art studio in the whole of the Korean games industry," Go said. It will include an 11,000-square-foot motion capture studio, so Pearl Abyss can perform some truly gigantic mo-cap work; the interview mentions "wire-action sequences, bulky objects, and even animals."

Aside from its graphical prowess, Blackspace also has features that enhance the studio's ability to create MMORPGs. "Many aspects can be automated, procedurally generated, and customized," Go said, while having "an in-house engine may be the freedom to add functions quickly when the need arises and to change them in the direction that we want." Pearl Abyss currently has no plans to license the engine to make it available to other developers.

While gameplay is important, the top-end video games of the next decade will need to have visuals that are better than what came before them, and Pearl Abyss looks to be well-positioned in that regard. We've only seen snippets of Crimson Desert and DokeV so far, but I'm looking forward to seeing what else the company can come up with.