Black Desert Online sold 400,000 copies its first month in the west

Since launching west earlier this year, Black Desert Online has become rather popular. 400,000 copies sold popular.

That figure was reach within the very first month of availability in European and North American markets.

"Considering the upward trend, I expect that the game will achieve over one million sales this year," said publisher Daum Games Europe CEO Min Kim. "What’s impressive is these figures far exceed those in the domestic market."

The company says part of the MMO's success can be attributed to adopting "a premium business model for Western audiences," as opposed to the free-to-play model used in Korea. Those who purchase the game are provided access to all content updates for free.

Black Desert Online's in-game cash shop is also doing well, as it has a "much higher pay ratio" than the average 11% normally seen in free-to-play games.

Daum Games is planning to catch up on the Korean service by delivering near-monthly content updates.

The Pearl Abyss-developed MMO Black Desert Online launched on MArch 3 and boasts an average of 100,000 concurrent users.