Black Desert Mobile is No. 1 downloaded game in China

Black Desert Mobile massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (Mmorpg) began open beta testing period on Tuesday. [PEARL ABYSS]

Black Desert Mobile, the latest online mobile game published by Pearl Abyss, began open beta testing in China on Tuesday and became the No. 1 downloaded game in the country.

In open beta testing, anyone can download the app and submit bug reports before the formal release.

The game led Chinese Apple App Store game charts and the charts of Tap Tap, an app market run by Tencent, as of Tuesday morning, according to Pearl Abyss.

Black Desert Mobile is a version of Pearl Abyss's Black Desert massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (Mmorpg), which was released in January 2018 in Korea. It was introduced globally in 2019.

It received a publishing license from the Chinese government last June, becoming one of only three games to be granted permission from Beijing in the last five years.

Korean games have been struggling to enter the Chinese market since Seoul and Beijing fell out over the introduction of a U.S. missile defense system in Korea in 2016. The Chinese government issued no licenses to Korean games in 2018 and 2019, and granted Summoners War from Com2uS a license in December 2020.

Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle developed by HandMade Game, a Korean indie game studio, received a license in February last year.

"Compared to how most Korean games that have succeeded in China are PC games, we are taking on a challenge with a mobile game," said Choi Seo-won, the director of Black Desert Mobile China at the company.

"We will make our best efforts to provide the highest-quality experience and joy for the Chinese users of Black Desert Mobile."

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]