Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss is working on a new Pokémon-like MMO, and has a progress update to share with eager fans.

The Pokémon Company is currently working on its own titles like Pokémon Wind And Waves but as we saw in the Game Freak leaks, there are plans for an MMO title too, currently codenamed SEED.

Pearl Abyss’ Pokémon Rival

Crimson Desert is the biggest game Pearl Abyss has released so far, as seen by how long it took to actually release.

For the most part, it lived up to the hype with an open-world comparable to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and a varied mix of experimental gameplay mechanics to boot.

That said, the game’s launch wasn’t perfect as many felt its performance, abundance of bugs, and missing features were unacceptable, prompting Pearl Abyss to dedicate a lot of its time to fixes and updates.

At the time of writing, Crimson Desert is in a much better state and it’s probably the best time to jump in if you haven’t already, or if you found yourself unimpressed by the game’s initial release.

Now the developer is turning its attention to DokeV, an upcoming MMO that clearly takes some of its inspiration from the Pokémon franchise.

As reported by GamesRadar, the studio provided an update on the game’s development in its latest Q1 earnings letter, saying: "We will prioritise resources on DokeV to accelerate development. In addition, DokeV is currently in the pre-production stage, and we will share updates as development progresses."

You can learn more about the upcoming game as well as take a look at its first trailer on its official website. In short though, it’s a creature-catcher and fighting game announced during Gamescom 2021.

Players will partner up with a wide-variety of monsters but rather than simply pit them against each other, your character will also take part in the battle.

Judging from some of the open-world footage, the scope seems ambitious. It might even match or surpass Crimson Desert in terms of scale, though it’s too early to tell for sure. Another project called PLAN 8 is being developed at the same time.

Now given The Pokémon Company’s own plans to release an MMO game sometime in the future, we’re seeing all the makings of a face-off between these two games. Obviously Pokémon has the advantage as it’s got worldwide appeal but as we saw with the success of Palworld, gamers are open to new experiences.

Pearl Abyss have also won a lot of favour with Crimson Desert. We’d be surprised if it wasn't considered for Game of the Year given its popularity and that goodwill should in theory make the developer’s next project of interest to more people.

We’re probably not going to see more of DokeV for quite some time, but we’re already excited to catch our next glimpse of gameplay.

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