It’s common for live service games, and MMOs in particular, to do pretty well whenever a new expansion drops, as both new players and old veterans alike join the game once more to try out fresh content. This is the case with Korean developer Pearl Abyss’s Black Desert Online, with Black Desert Online’s player count resurging following the release of the recent “Land of the Morning Light” expansion.

Here are some stats relating to Black Desert Online’s player uptick, as provided via a press release:

• In the last month, Black Desert Online witnessed a 267% increase in new players and a 335% in returning players globally, based on Pearl Abyss’ internal analytics.
• In one week on Steam, Black Desert Online reached number 13 ranking, jumping 50 spots in the U.S. Top Sellers category and hit its highest peak of 33,546 concurrent players in two years (33,859 players in July 2021).
• In Europe the following countries surged into the Top Sellers category: Belgium: 4; Norway: 5; Germany: 8; Spain: 9; France: 12; Netherlands: 13; UK: 14; Finland: 14; Sweden: 15; and Austria: 17.
• In the last two weeks on streaming platform Twitch, Black Desert Online catapulted into the top 10 Trending Games bracket with 5,007,728 hours viewers watching (a 118.9% increase over the last two weeks), and a peak of 53,978 viewers (a 73.2% jump over the last two weeks), according to Twitch stats and analysis site, Sullygnome.

Black Desert Online’s latest expansion is pretty solid, with gorgeous graphics and a “pleasant focus on narrative” that draws players in. You can read more about our thoughts on the expansion in our review of Land of the Morning Light, where we gave it an 8/10 score.