Pearl Abyss Reports A Massive Dip In Revenue In Its Q1 2023 Investor Call

The first quarter of the year was a rough one for Pearl Abyss as the South Korean video game company revealed in its Q1 2023 investor call. The company reported a $6M revenue drop compared to Q2 2022 and a staggering $66M decline compared to the previous quarter although the dip was largely attributed to its subsidiary Pearl Abyss Capital failing to submit its complete financial report for the quarter.

Both Black Desert and EVE Online, the company's core MMORPGs, experienced declines in revenue, making this their worst quarter in over a year. Black Desert Mobile, however, proved to be a bright spot in the otherwise dismal quarter for the company.

Several upcoming games also made an appearance during the call. Crimson Desert, which has been delayed for quite some time now, is expected to be finished by the end of 2023, although a release date was not announced. DokeV is still scheduled to launch after Crimson Desert.

The studio also discussed a decline in their workforce over the quarter. The studio attributed this to departing interns and the closure of Pearl Abyss-owned Factorial Games. It's worth noting that CCP Games experienced layoffs earlier this year as well.

Pearl Abyss is now banking on upcoming events, such as the global launch of Black Desert Online’s Land of the Morning Light update and EVE Online’s Viridian expansion, to hopefully turn things around for the rest of the year.