PPearl Abyss develops PC and mobile games with high-quality visuals and expansive open worlds, including Black Desert, Black Desert Mobile, Shadow Arena, Crimson Desert, DokeV, and PLAN 8. Its games are free-to-play with in-game purchases, so players download and play for free and can buy cosmetics, upgrades, and other enhancements. The company stands out by delivering real-time combat in large open worlds across both PC and mobile, backed by a diverse, active portfolio and ongoing content updates that keep players engaged and connected with the community. Its goal is to attract and keep a large, loyal player base while monetizing through microtransactions and expansions.
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Anyang-si, South Korea
Founded
2010
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"Red Desert" New DLC launches, map size expands far beyond expectations. 3DM2026-10-3122:38:34 The new Red Desert DLC, "Unknown Journey," has officially launched, further inflating the base game's already exaggeratedly large map to an unbelievable scale. One of the most well-known features of Red Desert is the vast expanse of the continent of Pevell. In addition to incorporating various gameplay mechanics and features, developer Pearl Abyss created one of the largest open worlds in the industry at launch. The continent of Pevell was already ridiculously large and packed with exploratory content, making it hard to imagine how the game's first expansion, "Unknown Journey," could add even more. Now that the DLC has officially launched, players have realized that the size of the base map was just the tip of the iceberg. Earlier this week, Pearl Abyss finally ended the free-only update model for Red Desert, launching the game's first-ever paid expansion, "Unknown Journey." As the name suggests, this DLC focuses on exploring new regions of Pevell: Cliff and his party can now sail to discover new landmasses and unlock deep-sea diving gameplay to explore the underwater world. This expansion focuses on uncovering unknown areas of the world. Players knew the map would be significantly expanded, but the exact scale of the addition remained unclear. As demonstrated by Twitter user Okami13_, "Unknown Journey" expands the game world far beyond everyone's expectations. In a video posted on Twitter, Okami13_ showcased the complete map after installing the DLC. By comparison, the base map, which was already considered excessively large, now occupies only a small corner of the entire explorable area. Although a significant portion of the new content consists of navigable seas, all underwater areas support full free exploration. Given that Red Desert is already renowned for its massive map, this expansion is quite an impressive technical achievement. However, I can't help but wonder if the developers are deliberately downplaying some of the game's controversies. Many players already felt that the continent of Pevell was too large, and it seems "Unknown Journey" has no intention of changing the minds of those who struggle with such vast open worlds.
Pearl Abyss launches Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown worldwide. Pearl Abyss has launched Charting the Unknown, the first paid downloadable content (DLC) for Crimson Desert Enhanced, worldwide on October 30. The DLC introduces new storylines, ocean and underwater exploration, expanded housing features, stronghold management, and romance. Charting the Unknown looks ahead to the future of Kliff, Oongka and Damiane. Having protected Pywel, each sets out to forge their own path and find new paths forward. The adventure in Pywel now also extends out to sea and below the waves. Players can set sail on a ship they can build to explore new islands, or dive into the ocean to uncover hidden treasure, ancient ruins and hidden mysteries. Additionally, with new romance and business management content, life in Pywel has never been richer. By building trust with certain people of Pywel, Kliff, Oongka and Damiane can develop romantic relationships and even marry them. Players can also lease and run facilities in certain strongholds they have liberated, building their wealth through managing these locations. Expanded housing also gives players control over more than interior decoration. They can now decide the placement of walls, windows, and other structural elements, as well as the basic layout of their home. Players who liberate certain castles can also decorate their courtyards and interiors, turning them into spaces of their own. Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown is available on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, Steam, Mac and the Epic Games Store. Gamereviews subscription About Crimson Desert. Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game developed by Pearl Abyss, globally released on console and PC platforms. A devastating ambush in the deep of night by their sworn enemies, the Black Bears, leaves members of the Greymanes dead or scattered across the continent. The Greymane Kliff is determined to reunite with his surviving comrades and rebuild what was lost. On a journey where alliances are forged, dangers abound, and mysterious factions are uncovered, Kliff comes to realize that an unprecedented threat and a destiny greater than he imagined await him. About Pearl Abyss. Established in 2010, Pearl Abyss is a leading developer in the game industry with its renowned MMORPG franchise Black Desert and the open-world action-adventure game Crimson Desert. All of Pearl Abyss' games are built on the company's proprietary engine and are renowned for cutting-edge graphics. Pearl Abyss is currently developing DokeV and PLAN 8 using its next-generation game engine, "BlackSpace Engine", and is poised to grow its overseas market. More information about Pearl Abyss is available at: www.pearlabyss.com.
Crimson Desert Enhanced jumps 27 spots to no. 4 on Steam ahead of DLC release. Oct 28, 2026 Pearl Abyss's Crimson Desert Enhanced (hereafter Enhanced) climbed to 4th place on the Korean Steam revenue chart on October 29 ahead of its first paid expansion release. Based on Steam's Top Sellers chart in Korea, this is a 27-place jump from the previous week. The unreleased expansion, Unknown Journey, also leaped 64 spots to reach 5th place on pre-orders alone. The trend is similar on the global chart. Enhanced ranked 12th, while Unknown Journey came in at 14th. Steam charts show how many consecutive weeks a title has remained in the top 100, and Enhanced was listed as a new entry on the October 29 chart. This indicates that sales for the base game, which was outside the top 100 until the previous week, increased again ahead of the DLC launch. According to Pearl Abyss's announcement, Unknown Journey will launch simultaneously on Steam, PS Store, XBOX Store, and Epic Games Store on October 30 at 7:00 AM. The price is 27,800 won. The PS Store opened pre-downloads 24 hours ahead of launch at 7:00 AM on October 29, while the remaining platforms will start downloads at launch. An update patch for the main game will also be released at the same time as the DLC. Pearl Abyss advised players to install this patch before launching the game. Unknown Journey adds ocean sailing and underwater exploration to the original Crimson Desert. It also features relationship building with specific characters, facility management, and enhanced housing. The stage of adventure, previously confined to land, now expands to the sea. The release was delayed once. The original launch date was October 16, but Pearl Abyss pushed the release back by two weeks on October 1, citing game completeness and a stable gameplay experience. Pre-orders are available on all platforms until launch. Pre-order customers will receive the 'Unknown Explorer's Diving Suit' set for Kliff and Oongka, and the 'Unknown Explorer's Lightweight Diving Suit' set for Damian as pre-order bonuses. Pearl Abyss released Crimson Desert in March and unveiled Enhanced with upgraded story elements and expanded language support at Gamescom in August. The first expansion arrives seven months after the base game's launch. The fact that the base game's ranking rose alongside the upcoming expansion suggests that packaged games can also extend their sales life cycle through additional content. Originally written in Korean, this article was translated with AI assistance and edited by a native English-speaking editor. Every translation is reviewed by its editorial team before publication. [Read Original]
Pearl Abyss Crimson Desert nominated for Best Soundtrack at Golden Joystick Awards 2026. Discover more Technology news digest Read Daily News Pearl Abyss has secured a nomination in the "Best Soundtrack" category at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026 for its upcoming open-world action title, Crimson Desert, as reported by MTN News on October 16, 2026. Golden Joystick nomination and Timeline. * Crimson Desert is nominated for Best Soundtrack at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, with public voting running through October 23. * Winners will be revealed on November 11, 2026, in London, following the title's earlier placement on the longlist for the World Soundtrack Awards. * The game's official soundtrack features 75 tracks across four themes, available now as a free downloadable content pack on Steam. Inside Pearl Abyss's dedicated Audio Facility. Pearl Abyss manages its audio production entirely in-house. The studio's headquarters houses an audio department featuring ten independent booths, including composer rooms and dubbing studios. This setup allows the development team to handle both musical composition and voice recording on-site without outsourcing core audio assets. The musical direction for Crimson Desert required three to four years of research and iteration. Rather than relying on repetitive, dramatic musical cues that might fatigue players during extended exploration, composers aimed for ambient soundscapes that blend smoothly into the open-world environment. To establish a distinct Nordic atmosphere, the development team sourced a traditional Northern European string instrument called the tagelharpa, recording live performances and converting them into virtual instruments for the game's score. Foley production and spatial acoustics. For sound effects, the studio applied cinematic Foley techniques, recording physical actions in real-time to match on-screen motion. Sound designers generated footsteps, collisions, and gear rattles by manipulating actual materials. To capture the mechanical movements and joints of the boss monster "Golden Star," engineers recorded the manipulation of metallic objects. Acoustic realism was achieved by recording ambient reverberations across various physical locations, including parking garages, corridors, and empty buildings. Crowd noise for in-game settlements was recorded by assembling groups of six people to mumble indistinctly, creating the texture of a populated environment without distinct, distracting dialogue lines. | Category | Details | | Audio Facility | Discover more News Health news reports Entertainment news feed | 10 independent booths (composer rooms, dubbing studios) | | Soundtrack Scale | 75 tracks across 4 themes (available on Steam) | | Key Instruments | | Traditional Nordic tagelharpa | | Awards Timeline | Voting ends October 23, 2026; Winners announced November 11, 2026 | Blackspace Engine integration. The proprietary Blackspace Engine manages real-time audio delivery based on immediate gameplay conditions. The software dynamically adjusts wind sound effects according to shifting weather velocities. It also calculates the material, weight, and velocity of colliding objects in real time to produce appropriate impact sounds, reducing the need for manual, event-by-event audio scripting across a massive open world. Following its previous inclusion on the preliminary list for the Game Music Award category at the 2026 World Soundtrack Awards - where Nicola Garcia won for Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss - Crimson Desert stands among the contenders awaiting the final results in London this coming November.
Crimson Desert hits 4 million sales as Pearl Abyss outlines sweeping post-launch roadmap. Crimson Desert sold over 4 million copies in under two weeks despite mixed critical reviews. Pearl Abyss has outlined a range of upcoming improvements including difficulty settings, a Boss Rematch feature, new character abilities, expanded customization, visual enhancements, and fully customizable controller inputs. Discover more Preorder Games Pearl Abyss's open world action game Crimson Desert has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, a milestone the developer reached in just under two weeks following launch. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics at release, the sales figure underscores significant player interest in the title. Three weeks after launch, Pearl Abyss published a new developer update blog post detailing a wide range of improvements and additions currently in the pipeline. The studio has already shipped multiple patches since release, including adjustments to the control scheme and the addition of new mounts, and has signaled that more substantial changes are on the way. On the gameplay front, Pearl Abyss is adding difficulty settings and a Boss Rematch feature, while also introducing a new dynamic where liberated locations can be attacked by enemies attempting to recapture them. The developer also teased new combat-focused content currently in development. Characters Damiane and Oongka are set to receive new abilities comparable to Kliff's Force Palm and Axiom Force, bringing greater parity to the playable roster. Discover more Try New Games Customization and quality-of-life updates are also on the horizon. New outfits, more pets, and additional mounts are being added to the game. Players will soon have the option to hide back weapons, and specialized storage categories are being introduced for Food, Gatherables, Collections, and a dedicated Wardrobe option. Pearl Abyss is also implementing a system that allows players to pull items directly from storage for use in crafting or tempering. On the technical side, the studio is working to enhance the realism of distant backgrounds, though it cautioned that these visual improvements may result in larger patch sizes than players might expect. A minimum font size adjustment option is also being added to the UI. Control scheme refinements remain an ongoing priority. Having already released multiple updates aimed at simplifying inputs, Pearl Abyss is now developing an option for fully customizable controller inputs and expanding the range of configurable keys for keyboard and mouse users. Discover more Video Games Your email won't be published No comments yet. Be the first to comment! Discover more action game Try Action Games
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Industries
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Anyang-si, South Korea
Founded
2010
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