Pearl Abyss Needs a Rebound, Global Strategy with 'Red Desert' in the Second Half (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Pearl Abyss's performance last year significantly declined due to the absence of new releases over the past three years. The company plans to rebound by unveiling "Red Desert," which has been delayed multiple times since its first reveal in 2019, in the second half of this year.

Operating Profit Down 61% Last Year

Pearl Abyss announced on the 14th that it recorded sales of 386 billion KRW, operating profit of 16.6 billion KRW, and a net loss of 41.1 billion KRW last year. Sales and operating profit decreased by 4.4% and 61.4%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The net loss reflects quarterly exchange rate fluctuations and impairment losses on intangible assets.

Operating profit for the fourth quarter was 3.6 billion KRW, down 85.8% from the same period last year. Sales and net loss for the quarter were 103.2 billion KRW and 100.3 billion KRW, respectively. Major intellectual property (IP) sales in the fourth quarter included 71.2 billion KRW from the "Black Desert" IP and 17.6 billion KRW from the "EVE" IP.

During the same period, the regional sales distribution showed North America and Europe markets accounted for the largest share at 56%, followed by Asia at 25%, and domestic sales at 19%. Looking at annual sales by region, overseas sales accounted for 81%. PC and console platforms made up 81% of total sales.

"Black Desert" was named the most played game in the Middle East last year according to the "2022 Survey on Korean Game Users in Overseas Markets" published by the Korea Creative Content Agency.

Pearl Abyss plans to take a conservative approach to overall workforce management this year.

Red Desert Image

Anticipated Second Half Release: "Red Desert"

Pearl Abyss aims to complete development of Red Desert in the second half of this year. First announced in 2019, Red Desert's release has been postponed multiple times; although it was promised for last year, it has been delayed to this year.

During a conference call, Pearl Abyss CEO Jin-Young Heo said, "When starting new development, our goal was not short-term market targets but to maintain the game for 10 or 20 years, as Black Desert has done. We will compete well with high-level graphics and technology."

Red Desert is currently in joint marketing discussions with global partners. CEO Heo stated, "For the Red Desert console version, we are considering global partnerships, which include not only publishing but also exclusive marketing and other options. We are reviewing which partnerships are advantageous from a profitability perspective and striving to find the best way that benefits the company and succeeds in the market."

Another anticipated new title, "Dokkaebi," is unlikely to have a video reveal this year. CEO Heo mentioned, "Dokkaebi is being developed with high efficiency by sharing all resources and environments of Black Desert through the BlackSpace engine. However, since we plan to focus on marketing Red Desert this year, it is still uncertain whether we will release a Dokkaebi video within this year."

Pearl Abyss is also continuously exploring ways to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) in games. CEO Heo explained, "We are not focusing on training and developing AI like ChatGPT, but we are interested in generative models (generative AI) and continue research and development." He added, "We are using AI technology to facilitate conversations with in-game characters and to assist communication between users who speak different languages."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.