Pearl Abyss

Pearl Abyss Corp. (Korean: 펄어비스) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher headquartered in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. The company was founded in September 2010 by Kim Daeil (also known internationally as Daeill Kim) and Youn Jaemin. Pearl Abyss is best known for creating the cross-platform MMORPG Black Desert Online and the open-world action-adventure game Crimson Desert. The company is publicly traded on the Korean KOSDAQ exchange under ticker symbol 263750. Pearl Abyss also owns and operates international subsidiaries including Pearl Abyss America (Manhattan Beach, California), Pearl Abyss Europe (Amsterdam), and Pearl Abyss JP (Tokyo), enabling self-publishing across all major markets.

Company History

Founding and Early Years (2010 to 2014)

Kim Daeil left his position at Webzen to start Pearl Abyss with seven other developers in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. He and co-founder Youn Jaemin had previously worked together at Hangame and NHN Gaming. The studio's first and primary project from day one was Black Desert Online. Between 2010 and 2012, the small team concentrated on building a proprietary game engine, now known as the Pearl Abyss Engine (later rebranded as the BlackSpace Engine for Crimson Desert and future titles). This custom-built technology was designed specifically for seamless open-world rendering, supporting vast uninterrupted landscapes, advanced particle effects, and real-time physics simulations. The decision to develop an in-house engine rather than licensing a commercial one would become a defining characteristic of the studio; all Pearl Abyss titles run on this proprietary technology.

During these early years, the company operated out of a modest office in Anyang. The founding team of eight developers grew slowly as Black Desert Online's ambitions expanded. By the time the game entered closed beta testing in late 2013, Pearl Abyss had grown to several dozen employees, all working within a single South Korean office.

Black Desert Online and Growth (2014 to 2017)

Black Desert Online launched in South Korea in December 2014 to critical acclaim. Players praised its seamless open world, action-based combat system, and large-scale castle siege battles. International releases followed, with North America and Europe receiving the game in March 2016 through publishing partner Kakao Games (formerly Daum Games). The game expanded to Xbox One in 2019 and PlayStation 4 later that year. A mobile version, Black Desert Mobile, launched in late 2018 in Asia and 2019 globally. By 2019, the Black Desert franchise had surpassed $1 billion in cumulative gross sales worldwide.

The success of Black Desert Online transformed Pearl Abyss from a small startup into one of South Korea's most prominent game studios. The game's ongoing live-service model, including regular content updates, seasonal events, and class additions, created a steady revenue stream that funded the company's future ambitions.

IPO and Acquisitions (2017 to 2019)

Pearl Abyss completed its initial public offering on September 14, 2017, listing on the KOSDAQ. The influx of capital allowed the company to pursue aggressive expansion. In September 2018, Pearl Abyss acquired CCP Games, the Icelandic developer behind EVE Online, for approximately $425 million USD (including earn-out payments). Under the deal, CCP Games continued to operate independently with around 250 employees across studios in Reykjavik, London, and Shanghai.

Also in late 2019, Pearl Abyss announced three new titles at the G-Star gaming convention in Busan: Crimson Desert, DokeV, and Plan 8. Each game was built on the Pearl Abyss Engine and signaled the studio's ambition to expand far beyond a single franchise.

Self-Publishing Transition (2021)

On February 24, 2021, Pearl Abyss took over publishing of Black Desert Online in North America and Europe from Kakao Games after the publishing contract expired. The transition required players to opt in to a data transfer process, migrating their accounts from Kakao Games servers to Pearl Abyss infrastructure by a May 2021 deadline. This move gave Pearl Abyss full control over the game's operations, marketing, and revenue in Western markets. Self-publishing was later extended to South America in June 2022.

To support this shift, Pearl Abyss established dedicated regional offices. Pearl Abyss America, headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, handles live operations, community management, customer support, localization, marketing, and public relations for the North American market. Pearl Abyss Europe, based in Amsterdam, serves the same functions for the European market. Pearl Abyss JP operates in Tokyo to manage the Japanese market. These subsidiaries allowed the company to maintain direct relationships with players rather than relying on third-party publishers.

Crimson Desert Development (2018 to 2026)

Crimson Desert entered production around 2018 under executive producer Kim Daeil. Originally described as an MMORPG set in the same universe as Black Desert, the game's direction shifted over the years toward a single-player, narrative-driven action-adventure experience. The development budget grew to approximately 200 billion KRW (roughly $133 million USD), making it one of the most expensive Korean game productions to date.

The game was revealed at The Game Awards 2020 and shown again at Gamescom 2021 and 2022, generating significant hype. Pearl Abyss constructed a dedicated five-story motion capture studio near their original office building in Anyang to support the game's cinematic ambitions. After multiple delays, Crimson Desert launched worldwide on March 19, 2026, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The lengthy development cycle saw significant technical evolution. The original Pearl Abyss Engine was substantially rewritten and expanded over the course of production, with a former developer revealing that the team "rewrote the engine every year" to keep pace with next-generation hardware capabilities. The resulting technology was formally branded as the BlackSpace Engine and showcased at GDC 2025.

Shadow Arena (2020 to 2022)

Shadow Arena was a standalone battle royale game spun off from a mode originally featured within Black Desert Online. The game entered Early Access on Steam in May 2020. Despite initial interest, its player count declined steeply; after December 2020, daily concurrent players rarely exceeded 1,000. Pearl Abyss attempted to pivot the game from a battle royale format to a 3v3 arena fighter, but the change failed to revive the player base. Pearl Abyss announced the game's closure in July 2022, citing that the game "in its current state was inadequate in offering a unique experience." Shadow Arena's servers shut down on August 10, 2022. Players who had made purchases during the final year received refunds, and all remaining players were given commemorative items for Black Desert Online and Black Desert Mobile.

CCP Games Divestment (2025)

In June 2025, reports emerged that Pearl Abyss had selected an underwriter and was sounding out potential buyers for CCP Games. Pearl Abyss had originally acquired CCP to tap into its playerbase and mobile platform capabilities, but the subsidiary reportedly fell short of expectations. Despite EVE Online itself generating nearly $60 million in revenue during 2024, CCP's affiliated entities had been incurring significant losses through unsuccessful new game ventures, dragging on Pearl Abyss's overall financial performance. If completed, the sale would mark Pearl Abyss's first major portfolio divestment since its IPO.

BlackSpace Engine

The BlackSpace Engine is Pearl Abyss's proprietary game engine, a significantly expanded successor to the original engine developed for Black Desert Online beginning in 2010. The engine powers Crimson Desert and will be used for all future Pearl Abyss titles, including DokeV and Plan 8.

On PC, the BlackSpace Engine uses a completely redesigned rendering pipeline built around full path tracing rather than the hybrid ray tracing approach used by most contemporary engines. Every pixel is calculated based on photon behavior simulation, producing physically accurate shadows, reflections, refractions, and global illumination. The engine is also designed to look convincing without ray tracing enabled, maintaining high visual quality across a range of hardware configurations.

Pearl Abyss showcased the BlackSpace Engine behind closed doors at GDC 2025, where it received widespread praise from attendees. Key technical features demonstrated at GDC included FFT Ocean Simulation and Shallow Water Simulation for realistic water effects, atmospheric scattering for dynamic weather (rain, snow, fog), and seamless open-world streaming with extended draw distances. The engine supports multi-platform development across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and Pearl Abyss has confirmed that Apple's MetalFX Upscaling technology is supported for macOS on M3 and M4 chips with hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Pearl Abyss has explicitly positioned the BlackSpace Engine as an alternative to commercial engines like Unreal Engine 5, arguing that a purpose-built engine has measurable performance advantages over a generalist engine carrying overhead from supporting a broad range of use cases.

Leadership

Pearl Abyss has had three CEOs since its founding. The current CEO, Heo Jin-young, took the role in March 2022.

Kim Daeil remains deeply involved in the company's creative output. He served as executive producer on Crimson Desert and has been the public face of the game's marketing, appearing in trailer commentary videos and press events. His official English-facing name is Daeill Kim.

Games

Following the launch of Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss has shifted its main development team to DokeV, an open-world creature-collecting game that drew widespread attention after a vibrant gameplay trailer at Gamescom 2021. At the company's 17th annual general meeting on March 27, 2026, CEO Heo Jin-young confirmed that DokeV is the studio's next major focus, estimating roughly two to three years from the current stage to completion and polishing. Plan 8, the exosuit MMO shooter announced alongside Crimson Desert and DokeV at G-Star 2019, appears to be on indefinite hold while the company prioritizes its other projects.

Crimson Desert Launch and Stock Volatility

The launch of Crimson Desert on March 19, 2026, triggered dramatic volatility in Pearl Abyss's stock price. For years, Korean market analysts and investors had positioned the game as a potential blockbuster, with many internal forecasts projecting a Metacritic score in the 85 to 90+ range.

When the review embargo lifted, Crimson Desert received a Metascore of 78. While a respectable score by most standards, it fell well short of the sky-high expectations that had been baked into the stock price. Pearl Abyss shares plummeted nearly 30% in a single trading day, dropping to approximately 46,600 KRW. An additional decline of roughly 10% followed the next day.

The recovery came swiftly. Crimson Desert sold 2 million copies within 16 hours of launch and reached 3 million copies within four days. On March 25, 2026, Pearl Abyss announced the 3-million-unit milestone, and the stock surged 27.8% in a single trading session, essentially erasing the post-review losses. By late March 2026, the game was approaching 5 million copies sold.

Post-Launch Outlook

At Pearl Abyss's 17th annual general meeting on March 27, 2026, CEO Heo Jin-young outlined the company's priorities for the period following Crimson Desert's launch. Several key topics were addressed.

Story Criticism and Content Updates

Heo Jin-young acknowledged player criticism of Crimson Desert's narrative, stating that "it would have been nice if we could have done a better job with it." He explained that the production team attempted to strengthen the story during development but ultimately chose to focus resources on gameplay. The company's current strategy prioritizes maximizing base game sales through ongoing free content additions rather than separate paid expansions. When asked about DLC plans, Heo stated that "no concrete plans have been finalized" regarding downloadable content.

Multiplayer Research

Heo confirmed that Pearl Abyss has conducted internal research into adding a multiplayer mode to Crimson Desert. However, he cautioned that implementing multiplayer would require significant technical compromises, particularly regarding graphical fidelity, given the demands of rendering the game's open world for multiple players simultaneously. Analysts at Samsung Securities estimated that any multiplayer component is at least one to two years away, placing a realistic timeline in 2027 or later. The most likely format, according to industry observers, would be a separate multiplayer experience alongside the single-player campaign rather than an integrated co-op mode.

Nintendo Switch 2 Port

Heo revealed that Pearl Abyss has begun internal research and development for a potential Nintendo Switch 2 port of Crimson Desert. He acknowledged that the Switch 2's hardware specifications are lower than the current target platforms and that meaningful compromises would be necessary, but expressed keen interest in reaching the platform's audience. No release window has been announced.

DokeV and Future Titles

With Crimson Desert's launch complete, Pearl Abyss confirmed that its core development team has shifted to DokeV. Originally announced at G-Star 2019 as an MMO, DokeV has since been reimagined as a solo open-world action-adventure game featuring creature collection, K-pop-inspired aesthetics, and designs rooted in South Korean mythology. The last major public-facing material for DokeV was its Gamescom 2021 trailer, which went viral and generated tens of millions of views. Heo estimated roughly two to three years from the current development stage to completion.

Monetization Philosophy for Crimson Desert

Pearl Abyss made a deliberate and publicly stated decision to launch Crimson Desert with zero microtransactions. This represented a significant departure from the company's roots in Black Desert Online, a free-to-play MMORPG with an extensive cosmetic cash shop and convenience items.

Will Powers, director of marketing at Pearl Abyss America, stated plainly: "There is not a cosmetic cash shop." He elaborated further: "This is a premium experience. That is the transaction. Full stop." The company's position was that Crimson Desert is a buy-to-play title, and the purchase price is the only required expenditure.

Financial Performance

Pearl Abyss's revenue has been driven primarily by the Black Desert franchise, supplemented by CCP Games' EVE Online revenue. The company listed on KOSDAQ in September 2017 and trades under ticker symbol 263750.

The company reported an operating loss of 12.1 billion KRW for full-year 2024, though the deficit narrowed compared to the prior year. Net profit improvement was driven largely by one-time gains and reduced non-operating losses. The Crimson Desert launch in March 2026, with nearly 5 million copies sold in the first week, is expected to transform Pearl Abyss's financial profile for the 2026 fiscal year.

Company Profile

Trivia

• The name "Pearl Abyss" was chosen by founder Kim Daeil. While the company has never given an official explanation for the name, it is believed to reference the idea of finding something precious (a pearl) in the depths of an unknown space (an abyss).

• Black Desert Online had surpassed 55 million registered players worldwide by 2024.

• Pearl Abyss constructed a dedicated five-story motion capture studio in Anyang specifically for Crimson Desert's cinematic sequences.

• The 200 billion KRW budget for Crimson Desert makes it one of the most expensive game productions to come out of South Korea.

• Pearl Abyss's stock dropped 30% on Crimson Desert's review day but recovered nearly all losses within a week, driven by strong sales figures.

• Crimson Desert sold 2 million copies in just 16 hours, making it one of the fastest-selling new IPs from a Korean studio.

• A former Pearl Abyss developer revealed that the BlackSpace Engine team "rewrote the engine every year" during Crimson Desert's development to keep pace with evolving hardware.

• Pearl Abyss's CCP Games acquisition at $425 million made it one of the largest acquisitions by a Korean game company at the time.

• DokeV's Gamescom 2021 trailer generated tens of millions of views on YouTube, making it one of Pearl Abyss's most viral pieces of marketing despite being a non-sequel new IP.

• Shadow Arena, Pearl Abyss's battle royale spin-off from Black Desert Online, launched and shut down within roughly two years (May 2020 to August 2022) without ever leaving Early Access.