Pearl Abyss Q1 2023: Black Desert and EVE Online revenues continue to decline

Pearl Abyss’ flurry of promotion and trailer drops this week might have been an early clue that its Q1 wasn’t looking so hot, and that does indeed turn out to be the case. During the South Korean company’s Q1 2023 investor call, the studio admitted to a $6M revenue drop compared to Q2 2022 and a $66M decline compared to last quarter. Once again, the decline is attributed largely to the company’s subsidiary, Pearl Abyss Capital, which apparently just… didn’t submit complete reporting this quarter.

However, both Black Desert and EVE Online also saw declines in revenue that compounded the superficially weak quarter. Both core MMORPGs saw their worse quarter in over a year, though Black Desert Mobile put up a fight. The studio is hoping that this summer’s Land of the Morning Light global launch (for BDO) and Viridian expansion (for EVE Online) will bolster the rest of the year.

As for the company’s upcoming games, the long-delayed Crimson Desert will supposedly be finished by the end of 2023, though investors were not given a release date. DokeV is still expected to launch after Crimson Desert.

Finally, as Nosy Gamer notes in his recap of the call, Pearl Abyss addressed a sizable drop in its workforce over the quarter, telling investors that it was the result of departing interns and the closure of Pearl Abyss-owned Factorial Games. (Of course, we also know CCP Games suffered layoffs in March too.)