Black Desert has announced its third major content update, Valencia, which will be free for all Xbox One users — and there may be an influx of those coming soon, as the game will also become available as part of the Xbox Game Pass tomorrow, May 9, with subscribers getting a special in-game item and 20% off Standard, Deluxe, or Ultimate edition bundles. Black Desert is the ambitious MMORPG title from developer Pearl Abyss, and it has quietly been refining itself into one of the best experiences in the genre across several major content updates.

Black Desert arrived on Xbox One relatively recently, and was praised for a seamless transition to the console that enabled players to jump in and enjoy the game’s incredibly deep RPG systems. Black Desert prizes player freedom above nearly everything else, and the result is an experience that can be overwhelming at first but can quickly evolve into one of the more enjoyable takes on the MMORPG genre. Boasting a community that’s passionate and dedicated, a growing subscriber base across several platforms, and a development team committed to bringing new content to the game at regular intervals, Black Desert has established itself as one of the better offerings MMOs available today.

Black Desert’s Valencia expansion is being hyped as one that features many secrets for players to discover, ranging from the new Absolute Skills that have been added to all classes to the deadly Kutum, a world boss that emerges from the sands to hunt and may catch players unaware in a terrifying encounter. Valencia will also be a zone that allows players to kill any adventurer they meet in the desert without risking gear enhancement penalties, although they’ll receive a villain mark that means they’ll be treated as hostile by other players. The PvP system will also feature a prison sentence at the end of a player’s PK run, although the devs have hinted that players may be able to escape their jail time if they are particularly crafty.

On top of those additions, Black Desert will also be adding several other content updates, including:

  • Gear and item enhancements, such as gear cleansing, accessory melting, and new gear enhancement levels that have come as a result of player requests. New Valencia-specific region items, as well as potions and Dim Magical Armor exchanges. UI improvements to make the game more visually appealing, including interface changes to quests, item information, chat windows, and the game’s central market.

Black Desert’s new availability on the Xbox Game Pass service will also likely result in an influx of new players, which makes Valencia an interesting and profitable time to jump into the MMORPG experience if players were on the fence about it. There’s a lot to like about the direction Black Desert is headed, and as an alternative to the more traditional styles offered by World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV, the game may yet carve out a sizeable niche for itself in a genre that has typically struggled to diversify the offerings at the top of its heap.

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