Pearl Abyss shares tumble as it puts off new releases on stronger earnings

[Provided by Maekyung Media Group]

Shares of Korean game publisher Pearl Abyss tumbled Wednesday after it put off the release of much-awaited Crimson Desert and other new games, citing more time needed for their perfection.

“The company expects to complete developing Crimson Desert sometime during the second half of 2023 and will decide on release date based on market conditions and discussion with partner developers,” said Pearl Abyss CEO Heo Jin-young, at the third-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. The chief executive also added Goblin, another most-anticipated game, will also likely be rolled out later than preset target of 2023.

Gamers have long been waiting for arrival of Crimson Desert and Goblin, new online games of Pearl Abyss, a Korean game company behind world-popular online game “Black Desert.” Their release schedules have been pushed back, stirring up concerns in the market.

Pearl Abyss, however, remains confident to present high-quality games as it has received good feedbacks from its partner developers on Crimson Desert as well as on Black Space Engine, its own game development platform built in-house.

Robust earnings also bought more time for the company.

Pearl Abyss registered 12 billion won ($8.8 million) in operating income for the third quarter ended September, turning around from 4.2 billion won loss posted in the second quarter. The result is up 17.0 percent on year.

Revenue rose 3.4 percent on quarter and 0.9 percent on year to 97.3 billion won.

The sharp improvement in operating income owes to absence of one-off bonus payment given to employees in the previous quarter.

It also benefited from favorable foreign exchange condition for game sales abroad. The company generated 82 percent of its third-quarter revenue from overseas.

Commission cost also rose slower compared to sales growth, as it sold more of PC games that are charged less commission fees compared to mobile games by marketplace operators.

Pearl Abyss shares fell 6.07 percent to 43,300 won, as of 2:30 p.m. in Seoul.

By Lim Young-tak and Cho Jeehyun