Game developer Pearl Abyss (263750.KQ) posted its largest quarterly earnings on record, lifting operating profit roughly 2,600% on the global success of its new title "Crimson Desert."
Pearl Abyss reported first-quarter consolidated revenue of 328.49 billion won and operating profit of 212.09 billion won on a preliminary basis, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday. Revenue and operating profit rose 419.8% and 2,584.8%, respectively, from a year earlier, both marking all-time quarterly highs. Net profit came in at 158 billion won, up 2,107.8% year-on-year and swinging to a profit from the previous quarter.
The strong results were led by Crimson Desert, which launched globally in March. The title generated 266.5 billion won in revenue in the first quarter, compared with 61.6 billion won from Black Desert, the company's previous hit. Overseas sales accounted for 94% of first-quarter revenue on the back of Crimson Desert's international popularity, with North America and Europe making up 81% of that total. By platform, console and PC each accounted for 50% of Crimson Desert's sales.
Crimson Desert is a AAA (blockbuster) open-world action-adventure game that Pearl Abyss first unveiled in 2019, released seven years later. Although its Metacritic score came in at a lower-than-expected 78 shortly after launch, the game succeeded commercially as actual users spotlighted its rich content volume and technical polish. It sold 2 million copies on its first day and surpassed 5 million copies on the 15th of last month, just 26 days after release — the fastest sales pace in the history of Korean console games.
The company views the development of Crimson Desert on its proprietary game engine, "BlackSpace Engine," as particularly encouraging. Crimson Desert's success is also expected to accelerate development of upcoming titles. Pearl Abyss has previously announced plans to unveil "DokeV" in 2028.
