Pearl Abyss, publisher and developer of Crimson Desert, has seen its stock price plunge nearly 30% in what is seen as a reaction to review scores.
Reviews for the hotly anticipated open-world action game went live yesterday, March 18. On review aggregator Metacritic, Crimson Desert currently has a Metascore of 78 based on 85 critic reviews. But that number is expected to fluctuate as more reviews come online in the days and weeks following today’s launch.
IGN’s Crimson Desert Review So Far, based on playing the PC version, returned a 6/10, although that score is not final.
At the time of this article’s publication, the stock price for Korean company Pearl Abyss was down 29.88%, wiping approximately $13 off the value of a share. The stock is currently valued at approximately $30 per share.
“Apparently not good enough for investors,” said Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Japan games industry consultancy firm Kantan Games, in a post on social media referencing the Crimson Desert review scores.
According to Seoul Economic Daily, the market had expected a Metascore in the mid-to-high 80s, and “the lower-than-anticipated result appears to have weighed on the stock.” The same report said Pearl Abyss spent seven years developing Crimson Desert, with development costs coming in at 200 billion won (approx. $133 million).
However, there are strong signals that Crimson Desert will be a significant hit for Pearl Abyss. Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics, said that Crimson Desert “is on track for a killer launch on Steam.” According to Alinea Analytics estimates, Crimson Desert was approaching 400,000 pre-launch copies sold on Steam as of early this week, representing gross revenues of over $20 million. “This game could really blow up, if it sticks the landing,” Elliott added.
“At the three-day pre-launch mark, Crimson Desert’s $20.3M on Steam means it’s outperforming Kingdom Come: Deliverance II by nearly 4x ($5.2M) and Expedition 33 by nearly 10x ($2.4M) at the same point in their respective lifecycles,” Elliott continued.
And as Toto pointed out, Crimson Desert is currently No. 4 in the U.S. PlayStation sales chart, behind only MLB The Show 26, NBA 2K26, and Fortnite. “Very solid, I would say, for an IP (Black/Crimson Desert) not well known at all in that region of the world,” Toto said.
Crimson Desert is now just a few hours from release (check out the Crimson Desert global release times here to find out when you can play in your timezone). In a launch FAQ, Pearl Abyss said Crimson Desert needs an internet connection to complete the initial setup (including a day one patch) “and ensure they have the latest version of the game.” Once installation is complete, you can play Crimson Desert offline.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
