Industry

Pearl Abyss profit expected to halve as Crimson Desert sales cool, with the Charting the Unknown DLC and a 2028 DokeV next

By PPRGaming · October 19, 2026

Official key art for Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting the Unknown showing Damiane, Kliff and Oongka with a sailing ship, a dragon and a diver exploring sunken ruins
Image: Pearl Abyss

Crimson Desert’s launch glow is fading on the balance sheet. Korean outlet The Elec reports that Meritz Securities expects Pearl Abyss to post third-quarter revenue of 119.6 billion won and operating profit of 33.5 billion won. That would be down 37% and 50% from the second quarter.

How we got here. Crimson Desert launched in March and gave Pearl Abyss a record first quarter, with 328.5 billion won in revenue and 212.1 billion won in operating profit. Revenue from the game then dropped 48% in the second quarter, from 266.5 billion won to 136.1 billion won, even though cumulative sales passed 6 million copies by June. Pearl Abyss already cut its full-year guidance in August, and The Elec says it now expects 709.8 to 743.8 billion won in revenue, down from an earlier range of 879 to 975.4 billion won.

The DLC is the fourth-quarter bet. Crimson Desert’s first paid expansion, Enhanced: Charting the Unknown, was pushed back two weeks and now arrives October 29 at 6 p.m. ET (October 30 in Asia). It adds ocean travel by ship, diving and sunken ruins, new islands, an upgraded Housing mode and new story content. The PlayStation Store listing has it at $24.99, with a 10% discount for owners of Crimson Desert Enhanced, and pre-orders include diving outfits for Kliff, Oongka and Damiane. Meritz expects the DLC to help lift fourth-quarter revenue about 33% over the third quarter.

The long gap. The bigger worry is what comes after. Citing industry sources, The Elec says Pearl Abyss is targeting the second half of 2028 for DokeV, its next game. That’s roughly two and a half years after Crimson Desert’s release. Meritz projects operating profit could fall another 67% next year, and some observers have floated adding online or multiplayer features to Crimson Desert to keep it earning. Mirae Asset analyst Lim Hee-seok put it bluntly in August: “It will be difficult to expect a meaningful revenue rebound from the release of Crimson Desert DLC alone.”

PPR take: Selling 6 million copies of a new single-player IP is a huge win, and none of this changes that. But it shows why Charting the Unknown matters so much to Pearl Abyss. If the sailing and diving bring lapsed players back on October 29, the next couple of years look a lot easier.

Sources