MMORPG 'Black Desert' Is Getting An Xbox Series X|S Upgrade, But There's A Catch

Say goodbye to the Xbox One version

by Liam Doolan Sat, 10am

If you've ever played the MMORPG Black Desert on Xbox or are interested in trying it out, the next big update might interest you.

In a "console service update", the development team announced native versions of the massive-multiplayer online game were set to launch for Xbox Series X|S (and the PS5) later this year on June 26th, 2025.

During the video, it was noted how certification for both the Xbox and PlayStation versions of the game was "progressing as planned".

It's worth mentioning this update will be entirely free when it arrives, but the catch is the existing version for Xbox One "will no longer be available" after the porting update has launched.

Despite the ongoing efforts to optimize and update content for older generation consoles, we have reached the point where hardware limitations make it increasingly difficult to deliver the latest content smoothly.

And you don't have to worry about your previous progress - with all your account information and entitlements to Black Desert fully accessible in the new version for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Will you be checking out the next-generation Xbox Series X|S version of Black Desert? Did you play the Xbox One version? Let us know in the comments.

[source youtu.be]

Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief.

1
Kaloudz
Sat, 10:33am

I mean, we're years past last gen - this really shouldn't trigger anyone still playing this game on last gen hardware.

2
Kaloudz
Sat, 11:26am

@Dalamar73 That's perfectly fine but that shouldn't be to the detriment of progress. There's clearly a reason the developer has done this and the alternative is a poorer experience without the leap.

I'm all for people in hardship, but that shouldn't come above another person's (or in this case, team's) vision. I mean, once upon a time a game on new hardware was exactly that, a game on new hardware. We didn't have the luxury we have these days where cross gen play was as accessible as it is.

I'm not disagreeing with your point, I'm just saying, to complain about this would be like complaining about Destiny 2 not being available on Xbox 360 hardware when it launched...

It's just one of those things.

3
Fiendish-Beaver
Sat, 11:30am

I'm all for people in hardship..

This reads like this is how you think people should live, @Kaloudz! 🤣

4
Kaloudz
Sat, 11:45am

@Fiendish-Beaver 🤣🤣🤣 I read it back after you said that, laughed, and do you know what? I'm not even editing it. 🤌

5
Kaloudz
Sat, 11:52am

@Dalamar73 Okay then let's peddle back to Destiny 1. The game stopped getting supported from the Rise of Iron onwards. Every expansion before (Taken King, Dark Below, etc..) was available on 360 and One, but that game saw the end of support for future content updates for 360 from that aforementioned expansion drop onwards due to hardware limitations. It's just one of those things and it's not uncommon...

6
InheritNegative
Sat, 1:22pm

@Dalamar73 But their progress is tied to their account so they’re not losing the time spent. I’m with @Kaloudz, I mean people have got to move on at some point, at this rate we could have 3 generations of Xbox hardware being actively developed for and that just sounds crazy to me. But it is ultimately a result of our unreasonably difficult times and I get that. I’ve been stuck on Series S this entire time which wasn’t my intention.

But more importantly—and to your earlier comment—it’s BDO... It’s one of the stupidest games I’ve ever played and barely even feels like a game. Feels more like a front to some nefarious money laundering scheme. It also ran like hell on Xbox One… I think whoever’s still playing that game on there must be in the distinct minority and would probably appreciate the upgrade, because wow, it was bad.

7
dskatter
Sat, 1:45pm

@Kaloudz @Dalamar73 Heck, let’s pour one out for all those PS3 owners who got left behind when the Stormblood expansion came out for FF14 back in 2017 and were forced at gunpoint to go to PS4!

Tech moves on. Games move on. If someone is THAT heavily invested in BDO (and if they are, I have to question their choices in life anyway…) I’m sure they’ll either upgrade eventually when money allows or move on with their life and seek greener pastures!

8
Runex2121
Sat, 2:15pm

@Dalamar73 If youve poured that much money into it, you can afford a $250 series s.

Im more in the "If you cant afford to upgrade, you need to focus on things other than gaming" line of thought. Other gamers shouldnt be subjected to your monetary troubles.

9
dskatter
Sat, 2:16pm

@Dalamar73 PCs can be upgraded. Consoles cannot. They are static. Can’t pop in a new graphics card or cpu and say “yup, I’m ready for version 2.52 of Popular MMO now!”

That’s the part you’re missing. Imagine if they kept FF14 running on the PS3 and held the whole thing back just to placate those owners.What a horror show that would be. They discontinued it for that platform in 2017 for not being able to handle things, and now in 2025 it would be an utter joke.

You don’t hold the entire class back because one or two students can’t keep up.

@Runex2121 Perfectly stated.

10
Kaloudz
Sun, 9:14am

@dskatter @InheritNegative That's exactly how I feel on the matter. It's like I said above, progress should not be held back for any reason, or else (in all walks of life) we're stuck on square one. I'm rocking the Series S because I couldn't really afford the Series X at the time (or even now to be fair lol) and in doing so I had to kiss goodbye to quite a neat selection of hard copy games and content.

It is what it is. I mean the Xbox One is, what? 12 years old now? That's got to be some tough hardware to dev for nowadays. It was hard enough even just halfway through the X1 gen due to limitations set out by the Kinect (I believe the console had a mandatory amount of memory allocated to the Kinect - even for games that don't use it) and that hasn't changed even now.

It's just one of those things and like you say, if you can invest that much time and money into something, you can surely move with the tide, as it were. I've played BDO too, and cant say it's really worthwhile imo.