If you think of high-end graphics, some names immediately come to mind: Epic, DICE, CryEngine. But as technology continues to disseminate across the world, more and more game studios in various global tech hubs are beginning to turn heads with their advancements in video game visuals.

One such company is Pearl Abyss, a South Korean video game company primarily known for the MMORPG Black Desert Online. Recently, the studio caught our attention with a show-stopping presentation of DokeV built using a proprietary engine Pearl Abyss is developing with an eye towards the studio’s future.

IGN was able to speak with Pearl Abyss’ Head of Game Engine Division and Lead Engine Programmer Kwaghyeon Go to talk more about this new engine, whose name IGN can reveal is called the “Blackspace Engine.”

Pearl Abyss’ biggest game currently is the MMORPG Black Desert Online, which Pearl Abyss developed using an earlier proprietary engine. But new projects require new technology.

“When devising new projects after Black Desert, we felt the need for a new engine with the latest technology for even better quality and performance. Additionally, it also had to be able to cover multiple projects,” Go says.

Enter Blackspace Engine, Pearl Abyss’ new, next-gen engine currently used to develop upcoming projects including Crimson Desert, PLAN 8, and DokeV, an open-world adventure where players can go on adventures with monsters based on Korean folklore.

Take the GamesCom trailer for DokeV for example which has already garnered over 7 million views. The K-Pop soaked trailer is filled with highly detailed environments, eye-popping particle effects, and rich textures, and a bulk of the comments are dedicated to discussing DokeV’s visuals.

“It’s our belief that amazing graphics and attention to detail determine the core quality of a game,” Go says. “After all, it’s these details that help create such an immersive experience.”

Go says its next-gen engine allows “for a more detailed representation of visual depth and increases the draw distance.” Furthermore, “improvements in atmospheric scattering and global illumination techniques provide more accurate lighting that takes into account the flow of time and spatial changes.”

Pearl Abyss also boasts an advanced motion capture and 3D-scanning studio, and the company plans to open a dedicated art studio in 2022.

According to Go, “The Pearl Abyss Art Center will be the largest art studio in the whole of the Korean games industry and will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for gaming technology and design research.” It will also boast a new, nearly 11,000 square feet motion capture studio designed to shoot wire-action sequences, bulky objects, and even animals.

Alongside PC, DokeV has been announced for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. South Korean game developers have largely focused on PC and mobile, so IGN asked if DokeV was part of a new strategy targeting the global console market.

To this, Go cited Black Desert on console, which was released in 2019 and helped cater to a large overseas console market. Go says Pearl Abyss is one of the first South Korean companies actively pursuing the “challenging console market.”

Despite the competition, Pearl Abyss aims to expand its console offerings by supporting cross-play between platforms as well as next-gen console versions of its games.

As for Pearl Abyss’ decision to develop a proprietary engine rather than license an engine from another company, Go says it’s about “internalizing core game development technologies” by developing an engine using the company’s “advanced technology.” He added that Pearl Abyss seeks to resolve the long-term risks that come with relying on external development platforms.

“With one’s own engine, it is possible to build an efficient development process and actively respond to changes on various platforms,” Go says.

Aside from developing an engine capable of high-end graphics, Go says the BlackSpace Engine has other features that aid in the development of open-world games. “Many aspects can be automated, procedurally generated, and customized with Pearl Abyss’ engine,” Go says. Along with realistic audio expression and smooth transitions between cutscenes and gameplay which Go says offers a more immersive experience he says, “The biggest advantage of an in-house engine may be the freedom to add functions quickly when the need arises and to change them in the direction that we want.”

While there are currently no plans to license the BlackSpace engine to partner developers a la Epic or Unity, Go says Pearl Abyss’s next-gen engine can be used to create a virtual space “akin to real-life” and can be “combined with the latest technology to create a more realistic metaverse.” As a result, Pearl Abyss is considering the possibilities of using the engine “in a wide variety of fields.”

As games like DokeV continue to impress the world with its visuals, Go says Pearl Abyss will continue to focus on games like Black Desert while pursuing high-quality graphics and attention to detail, “all the while focusing on the gameplay itself as much as on the graphics.”

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

2K has revealed a number of features that will be part of WWE 2K22, including the long awaited return of a general manager mode and a brand new mode in which you put together a faction of superstars from across every era of the WWE.

General Manager mode has not been seen in a WWE game since WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, but it finally sees a return in WWE 2K22 under the new guise of MyGM. The mode will allow you to draft superstars, book matches, manage your contacts, and generally attempt to run the WWE. Creative Director Lynell Jinks notes that the journey of MyGM will see you “progressively working your way up from high school gyms to prime time TV.”

Where MyGM is the return of a fan favourite mode, MyFACTION is a brand new mode that’s a first for the WWE games. Your aim in this mode is to build a faction that rivals the likes of the nWO, The Hart Foundation, DX, and New Day. This is done by collecting, managing, and upgrading superstar wrestlers picked from every era of the WWE. Your squad of stars can then do battle in new game modes and challenges, supported by weekly events and challenges.

2K note that MyFACTION will make use of a virtual currency, but emphasise that it’s not required. “It is super important to note here that virtual currency does not offer any sort of competitive advantage, or put players in a play-to-win situation,” said art producer Christina Diễm Phạm. “The items you purchase with VC can also be purchased by MyFACTION points earned via gameplay.”

These two modes come alongside MyRISE mode, which allows you to experience the journey of a WWE Superstar from rookie to legendary, and the returning Universe mode. Creation Suit is also back, with “wild options and fantasy elements” and the ability to step into the ring anywhere in the world. Additionally, a new WWE 2K Showcase allows you to relive a legendary WWE Superstar’s most iconic matches.

All of this is built on a redesigned engine, with gameplay and animation rebuilt from the ground up. A new control scheme has also been implemented that 2K states allows for a more intuitive, controlled experience. “These updates enable folks to easily pick up and play while still allowing for higher skill expression,” says Diễm Phạm. “For less seasoned players our combo system enables you to string together lethal moves with ease. Faster response time and shorter lock outs means gameplay is faster and players learn a lot faster.”

WWE 2K22 is set to release in March 2022, and comes after the series was put on hold back in 2020 in order to allow extended development of the next game. No Mercy and Smackdown have been cited as influences for this latest entry in the series.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

When it comes to the perfect meeting of budget and quality, TCL 4K TVs are amazing. I'm a huge fan, and I recommend them to anyone looking to pick up a good-looking 4K TV for not a lot of money.

Making this value proposition even better are the Black Friday deals on TCL 4K TVs across its line of UHD sets. Here are the best Black Friday TCL deals happening right now.

Black Friday TCL 4K UHD TV Deals

The full spectrum of TCL series TVs are marked down today for Black Friday. As someone who owns an entry-level TCL, I gotta say, I'm a big fan. Even at the lower-end, the picture is more than adequate for my needs, and I have no complaints at all 2 years into ownership.

TCL 4K TV Black Friday Deals at Amazon

TCL 4K TV Black Friday Deals at Best Buy

TCL 4K TV Black Friday Deals at Walmart

This is just a small slice of all the great Black Friday 4K TV deals happening today. If you're considering getting yourself a bigger or better TV, I wouldn't waste any more time. The deals are here and there's nothing we can do to stop them at this point.

All the Best Black Friday Deals and Sales

Seth Macy is Executive Editor, IGN Commerce, and just wants to be your friend. You can find him hosting the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast.

The latest patch for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy has been released and, among a number of other changes, it adds ray-tracing for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

As detailed by the development team on Reddit, the ray-tracing patch for Marvel's Guardian's of the Galaxy was released on PlayStation and Xbox consoles on November 17. A subsequent patch will also be coming to PC, however players there will need to wait until November 19 to see the benefits.

The ray-tracing options can be accessed in the game's video settings menu, where the feature can be toggled on and off. The feature comes alongside a number of bug fixes and general improvements, including improved performance for those playing the game on the original PS4, and adjustments to input sensitivity for players who have older Dualshock controllers that have fallen prey to wear and tear.

For those playing on Xbox Series S, there's good news too. The latest changes include an option to uncap the FPS on the console, allowing players to run the game between 30 and 60 FPS. It should however be noted that doing so may lead to a less stable framerate in some areas of the game.

As with the majority of post-launch updates, the latest patch also comes with a number of general bug fixes and performance improvements to the game – a full list of which can be read in the official patch notes over on Reddit should you wish. For more on Marvel's Guardian's of the Galaxy make sure to check out our review of the game where we awarded it an 8/10 calling it "a fun, no-frills single-player campaign full of cosmic comic book flavor." And if you've already played, be sure to check out our ending explained feature.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

The development team at Relic has revealed its roadmap for Age of Empires 4, detailing plans for the game throughout 2022 and beyond.

As announced in an article on the Xbox blog, Age of Empires developer Relic revealed that the game's next patch is set to come into effect this Winter – and it's likely to be a pretty significant one. The Winter 2021 Update will include over a hundred balance updates as well as some more general performance fixes.

Around the Winter update fans will also see a number of other changes that are being implementing based on player feedback following the game's launch. These include additional options to enable in-game scores, changes to the Chinese Dynasty user interface, and tweaks to the in-game minimap.

Following the launch of the game's Winter update, the next big update confirmed for the game looks set to take place in Spring 2022. During this period, Relic says that it will be launching Age of Empire 4's first set of mod tools, as well as a range of further balance updates and community-requested features including the Patrol move.

In addition to the features above, Spring 2022 will also kick off Ranked Seasons in Age of Empires 4. During the season, players will be able to compete against one another head-to-head in order to climb higher in the rankings. Those taking part in the Ranked game mode will also be able to earn a number of exclusive in-game rewards, which the publisher notes will be assigned based upon performance.

After this point, the roadmap for the game gets a little hazier, with no timeframe currently being offered for future changes. That being said, the Age of Empires team has confirmed that it is actively looking into a number of fan-requested changes to the game that it may look to implement across 2022 and beyond.

For more from Age of Empires 4, make sure to check out this piece detailing the strong start that the game made to life on Steam. Alternatively, if you're still on the fence about playing Age of Empires 4, then make sure to check out our review of the game where we awarded it an 8/10.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.