Black Desert

Steam Reviews

Read all reviews on Steam

• Not recommended Posted January 22, 2026 on Steam WARNING to New Players: Your Loyalty Has an Expiration Date! I am writing this to warn any potential new player: Do not start this game in 2026. The Betrayal of Loyalty: Pearl Abyss recently deleted years of "Loyalty" points from their most dedicated players with zero compensation. No exchange, no silver, no apology. They replaced a permanent reward system with a "Seasonal" one where your points are deleted every 6 months. A Community in Mutiny: The veteran player base has had enough. As a direct protest against these predatory changes, many of the game’s top guide-makers, theory-crafters, and mentors have stopped creating content and helping new players. The Goal: To ensure Pearl Abyss does not profit from the new players they tried to "balance" the shop for. The Message: If the developers don't respect the veterans who built this community, we will not help them sustain it. The Result: New players are entering a "knowledge vacuum." The complex systems of BDO are hard enough, and now the community is willing to sink the boat rather than be treated like disposable data points. Why you should stay away: You are the target: This change was made to force you into the Pearl Shop because you can no longer save for free essentials. No Support: You will find fewer guides and a hostile community environment because the "old guard" is in active revolt. You're Next: If they were willing to wipe out 10 years of veteran loyalty with nothing to show for it, they will do the same to you in 6 months. Final Word: This isn't just a bad update; it’s a developer declaring war on its own community. Save your money and your time. Don't board a ship that the crew is actively trying to sink.
• Not recommended Posted March 18, 2026 on Steam 10,000+ HOURS OF SUPPORT, REPAID WITH DECEPTIVE TRAPS Look at my playtime: 10,601 hours. I have supported this game and these developers for years. But I am warning anyone thinking about starting now: do not give them your money. After supporting them for so long, it is disgusting to see what they actually work hard on. Instead of fixing the game, they dedicate their time to designing UI systems and mechanics specifically built to mislead and trap players into paying them. The game is already full of the popular pay-to-win traps and misleading gameplay loops, but they have taken it to a new low. When you inevitably fall into one of these intentionally designed traps, Customer Support will do absolutely nothing. You can send them literal screenshots proving their game interface lied to you, and they will just point to some obscure fine print, blame you for not knowing their hidden mechanics, and pocket your cash. A good, caring developer does not need to abandon their original Steam page and force a new launcher. Changing it away clearly shows how a bad company operates to erase their massive history of bad records and negative reviews. If you want proof that players are finally fed up with being scammed, just look at the pathetic, declining player counts on SteamDB. The community is waking up and leaving. They do not respect their players, they do not respect your time, and they definitely do not respect your wallet. We play the game, and not the game play on us!
• Not recommended Posted April 9, 2026 on Steam I'll write a really short story of it,this game is literally a full time job if you wanna keep up with endgame and gear,prepare yourself to endless hours of killing the same mobs over and over and just failing on enhancements! ofc if you are rich you can p2w it and progress faster but i really don't reccomand doing so! If you want a veteran opinion don't start playing black desert online! Go instead with something that is actually not a job!
• Not recommended Posted November 22, 2025 on Steam As a long-time veteran of this game, I still enjoy it and continue to play, but I cannot recommend it to new players. The game has steadily shifted away from meaningful PvP. It is no longer rewarding and actively penalizes players for engaging in it. Despite being marketed as an MMO, it functions more like a solo experience, with almost no substantial group content. Even at endgame, PvE group activities amount to at most a couple of hours per week. In the past, PvP helped fill this gap, but that is no longer the case. There are many additional issues, but the core problem is the developers’ complete disregard for player feedback. Even when an overwhelming majority of the playerbase is unified in their criticism, it is consistently ignored. Meaningful action only seems to happen when backlash becomes so severe that it directly impacts their revenue. Each year they issue apologies for their so-called mistakes, yet the same patterns continue with no real change or accountability. For these reasons, I do not recommend purchasing this game, even if it is free, and I would advise extreme caution regarding their upcoming title, Crimson Desert.
• Recommended Posted December 12, 2025 on Steam Fun, chill game to just explore. Idk about endgame since I have a job, but I’ll try it when AI replaces me
• Not recommended Posted August 23, 2025 on Steam "cash cow for devs and a hamster wheel for the addicted" Not Recommended – Even after thousands of hours. This game pretends to welcome new players, but the reality is brutal: you’re 10 years late to the party. A new player grinding 800m/h will never catch up to veterans or whales farming 4b/h. The only “catch-up” options are: Swipe your credit card for MINIMUM 5.000- 10.000€ ( if you very unlucky maybe even more is needed) , or Quit your job and no-life grind 8–10 hours daily for years. The new expansion? Just more content for whales who’ve spent car-level money, or nolifers chained to their grind. I don’t even know why I’m still here. It’s like a toxic marriage—you stay out of habit, not love. After all these years, I still don’t have the gear to even touch new content on release. This isn’t a game for newcomers. It’s a cash cow for devs and a hamster wheel for the addicted.