Black Desert

Black Desert Online stormed the West on March 3, 2016 after dominating Korea, and it was the most impressive MMORPG launch of the year—winning MMORPG of the Year and Best Graphics from MMOs.com. This was Pearl Abyss flexing: a sandbox MMO with character customization so deep you could spend six hours sculpting your waifu's cheekbones, action combat that required manual aiming and combos (no tab-targeting allowed), and graphics that made other MMOs look like PS2 games. Critics praised the open world and combat while noting the game was "well-received by critics and gamers alike." Launch day had "mild to moderate drama" that Daum Games hilariously documented in a "shitstorm matrix," but issues were fixed fast. By April 2016, BDO hit 400,000 sales and 100,000 concurrent users in NA/EU. By March 2017, 3.4 million registered players. StreamerHouse's 1,554-viewer peak across 2016-2018 came during the game's golden era, before the endgame grind and pay-to-win cash shop soured some players. BDO's problem was never the launch or core systems—it was the Korean MMO curse of excessive grind and monetization creep. But for two years, it was the prettiest, smoothest-playing MMO on the market, proof that Eastern developers could nail Western launches if they gave a damn.