Black Desert Online (Korean: 검은사막) is a sandbox-oriented massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Korean video game developer Pearl Abyss. The game has been in development since 2010, and entered closed beta testing (CBT) in October 2013. Black Desert Online uses Pearl Abyss' own "Black Desert" engine specifically created to handle the fast rendering required for its seamless world and large-scale castle sieges.[ It was released in Korea in 2014, Japan and Russia in 2015, and North America and Europe in 2016. Black Desert Online uses a free-to-play model in Korea, Japan and Russia, while in Europe and North America the game uses a buy-to-play model.