Soaring on the Success of "Crimson Desert"... Pearl Abyss Sees 2,597.4% Surge in Q1 Operating Profit

Crimson Desert's Popularity Abroad Confirmed: North America and Europe Account for 81%
Company to Focus Resources on Developing New Titles Including DokeV

Pearl Abyss has demonstrated overwhelming growth, driven by the success of its action-adventure game "Crimson Desert," which was released in March. The company has announced that it will continue operating its existing games while also focusing its resources on developing upcoming titles.

Concept art of Crimson Desert by Pearl Abyss. Provided by Pearl Abyss.

On May 12, Pearl Abyss disclosed that its consolidated operating profit for the first quarter of this year reached 212.1 billion won, marking a 2,597.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Revenue during the same period totaled 328.5 billion won, up 419.6%. Net profit for the quarter was 158 billion won, representing a 31,557.1% increase. Pearl Abyss explained that on May 6, it sold its entire stake in its Iceland-based subsidiary Fenris Creation (formerly CCP Games), and that restated financial statements were applied based on continuing operations.

The popularity of Crimson Desert in overseas markets was a major driver of this growth. In the first quarter of this year, 94% of Pearl Abyss’s revenue came from overseas sales. Specifically, North America and Europe accounted for 81%, Asia for 13%, and Korea for 6%.

Revenue by intellectual property (IP) shows that Crimson Desert generated 266.5 billion won, followed by Black Desert with 61.6 billion won. Crimson Desert also demonstrated competitiveness on console platforms. The revenue split by platform for Crimson Desert was 50% from PC and 50% from consoles.

Total operating expenses increased by 110.1% year-on-year, reaching 116.4 billion won. Pearl Abyss explained that personnel expenses rose due to a large, short-term increase in staff and salary hikes to support the launch of Crimson Desert, and that commissions and advertising expenses also increased.

Through its disclosure, Pearl Abyss also released its performance outlook for the year. The company expects revenue for 2026 to be between 876 billion and 975.4 billion won, nearly tripling last year’s figure of 365.5 billion won. Operating profit is forecasted to increase by 1,414.3% to 1,678.3% year-on-year, reaching between 487.6 billion and 572.6 billion won. Pearl Abyss stated, "In the second quarter, Crimson Desert is expected to weaken compared to the previous quarter due to the typical sales pattern of package games, where initial sales are concentrated. However, we expect stable sales to continue through ongoing patches and updates."

Looking ahead, Pearl Abyss plans to focus on updates for existing games while also prioritizing the development of new titles. The company is currently developing "DokeV" and "Plan 8" as its next projects. Pearl Abyss stated, "We aim to maintain a 2-3 year development cycle for new titles and are concentrating significant resources on DokeV to accelerate its development. DokeV is currently in the pre-production development stage," adding, "Plan 8 is now in the concept development stage. While focusing on DokeV, we will continue development to ensure a proper release interval between the two titles."

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