Black Desert Online closed beta registrations are now being taken

Black Desert Online

The upcoming fantasy MMO Black Desert Online is now taking registrations for its first closed beta, which will run from December 16 to December 22. The beta promises a number of improvements over the alpha test that wrapped up last month, including greater character customization options, improved class balance, and better weather cycles.

Black Desert Online is an open-world action MMORPG that promises "the deepest character customization of any game currently on the market." It features "intuitive skill-based combat," with six character classes—Warrior, Ranger, Sorceress, Berserker, Valkyrie, and Wizard/Witch—with their own unique skills and powers. It will be sold "as a premium service, not a subscription model," with purchase prices ranging from $30/€30 to $100/€100.

Access to the closed beta will be given automatically to anyone who owns the Conqueror's Package, but if you don't want to throw 100 bucks at this thing just to see what it's like, you can put your name in the hat here and hope for the best. Registrations for the closed beta will be taken until 12 am PST on December 9.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in MMO
Ghoul in sunglasses
After years of playing as stupid, boring humans in Fallout, you can finally channel your inner Walton Goggins and become a ghoul in Fallout 76
WoW Classic: Season of Discovery
World of Warcraft Classic’s Season of Discovery may be teasing a legendary weapon that players have speculated is in the game for two decades
Gallywix wears an uneasy smile as he's confronted by Xal'atath in WoW: The War Within.
After 12 days and 100s of wipes, World of Warcraft's latest world first raid ends in anticlimax: 'That's the boss?!?'
A goblin with sharp teeth, wearing goggles, lets out a mischievous cackle in WoW's latest patch: Undermine(d).
The hooligan hacker guild that tore up WoW's newest raid (twice) just posted video evidence of the whole thing, and it's got me feeling weirdly nostalgic
Dune Awakening
Dune Awakening's latest trailer offers a glimpse of its massive coriolis storms, which reshape swathes of the map each week for 'infinite exploration'
Concept art of WoW's upcoming player housing system, showing a warm homestead with a welcoming figure in shade.
WoW flexes its MMO player housing system in a new blog post, and it really might just beat FF14's dated furniture placement into the dirt
Latest in News
Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics card
A single RTX 4090 managed to brute force crack an Akira ransomware attack in just 7 days
Luna the self learning robot dog
Meet Luna, the new AI robot dog who teaches itself using a digital nervous system and software 'that allows any machine to learn like humans and animals do'
Union organizers and game developers gather at GDC 2025.
Game dev union marches through industry event to demonstrate that it's about 'taking action and organizing change'
The jester from Balatro, portrayed in unsettling detail in real life, wears an uncanny smile and stares at the viewer.
Balatro's LocalThunk isn't 'trying to pull a Banksy', he just 'wanted to be left alone to make his game'
Two characters from Warframe 1999 lounging in a bar.
The warframe with a guitar that shoots fire is out today alongside a bunch of metalcore-inspired skins, cementing Warframe's spiral into Y2K madness
A Minecraft movie promo image of the main cast standing side by side,
This is why the Minecraft movie is called A Minecraft Movie