Pearl Abyss Q3 2025 Review

Pearl Abyss, the owner of CCP (main revenue is Eve Online), had its Q3 trading update (July - September 2025) today.

Nosy Gamer has done his review here earlier today.

The market was expecting more losses but Pearl Abyss pulled it out of the bag and generated an operating profit of 11 billion Won driven by strong summer updates from Black Desert Online.

(and that turned into 29 billion Won once the impenetrable operations of Pearl Abyss Capital are added in).

The shares rose 8% and have now recovered close to everything they lost since the Q2 update in August.

And for CCP, one new line in the Earnings Call that seems to refer to Eve Online “In addition, we have thoroughly made preparations for new services to increase revenues.”

Background - why we talk about Pearl Abyss

As a reminder, Pearl Abyss, a South Korean gaming companies, bought CCP (Eve Online) in 2018.  It has two main income generating games - Black Desert and Eve Online.  Black Desert was launched in 2015 and is now in decline vs Eve Online was launched in 2003, peaked in 2013 but is now back to growth.

Their Q3 webcast and presentation can be found here.

At the bottom of this post is the full English language translation of the earnings call including questions and answers from the analysts.

The key points were:

First point to make - we compare Q3 2025 to Q3 2024 and so that eliminates most seasonal issues.

Black Desert had revenues of 80 billion Won which are up 47% vs Q3 2024 driven by strong summer updates from Black Desert Online.

Eve Online generated 21 billion Won of revenues, flat on Q3 2024 (I had expected more).

Crimson Desert is due to launch on 19 March 2026 with marketing starting in January - that is not new news but the confirmation was positive.

 
 

Eve Online

The revenue split between Black Dessert Online and Eve Online continues to be disclosed.

The cynic in my says this is being disclosed again because the revenues of CCP are looking good and so making any sale process easier.

Putting the Eve Online Revenues together and going back in time to when Pearl Abyss bought CCP:

The chart below shows the quarterly revenues from the Eve ecosystem.  Does not really make sense to compare consecutive quarters, makes for a right mess.

Therefore the chart below shows the year-on-year change in quarterly revenues.

So, the eighth quarter of consecutive year-on-year growth.  Impressive.  But clearly getting harder to eek out the growth now (lets see if currency is in CCP's favour for Q4).

I suspect what we have been seeing is CCP monetising the player base better and perhaps this is all coming to an end with the end of the major Plex / Omega / MCT real money sales.

The data we don't know is the revenue spilt each quarter between subscriptions vs other ingame real money sales.

The chart below shows the rolling 12 month Revenues (each bar is the sum of the prior 4 quarters):

So CCP has gone from 57 billion Won in its first full 12 months in Q3 2019 to 88 billion won today (Q4 2024 - Q3 2025).

And CCP is hitting new record high rolling 12 month revenues under Pearl Abyss ownership and overall CCP is back up to 2015 revenue levels.  Not quite at the records set in 2013 and 2016 but getting there.

What was said about Eve Online in the Earnings Call?

Not much but there was one line of new news:

“In the case of EVE Online, there was the expansion of packs, Legion, additional update, and starting of the Alliance Tournament preliminary round, which added more fun to the game.”

“User metrics are showing a consistent trend, continuing stable revenues.”

And this was new . . . . .

“In addition, we have thoroughly made preparations for new services to increase revenues.”


Eve Frontier mentioned

“In case of EVE Frontier, while engaging in tests continued from the previous quarter, we finalized our blockchain platform, and are smoothly proceeding with the procedures needed to move on to the next phase.”

“First, in the case of EVE Frontier, we will continue tests in Q4 as well and focus on new user acquisition. Going forward, while validating the game, we will continue with marketing to secure core user acquisition.”


What does the market think of CCP?

It seems that the market is reducing its revenue expectations a bit for CCP – in part I think Q3 was not as strong as hoped but also currency headwinds. . . . . . though I cant really tell, the Korean Won currency has been on a weakening trend vs the USD and Euro for a number of years though more volatile vs USD.

So, for 2025 the market is moving from 88 billion won to 85 billion.  And then in 2026 from 81 to 76 billion and in 2027 79 to 74 billion.


The Balance Sheet has improved

Looks like the debt has been refinanced – so no large repayment due within the next 12 months.



There is one new line that i am not sure what it is - some sort of debt "Financial Liabilities measured at fair value".


Sale of CCP

Nothing was mentioned and there is no indication in the Accounts of a sale (if something is on the block to be sold it would need to be moved out of Non-Current Assets and into Current Assets).


Transcript of the Call

Operator
Good morning, and good evening. Thank you all for joining the Conference Call for the Pearl Abyss Earnings Results. This conference will start with a presentation followed by a Q&A session. (Operator Instructions). Now we will begin the presentation on Pearl Abyss' Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Results.

Kim Yoon
Greetings. I am Kim Yoon from Pearl Abyss IR team. First of all, I express my deepest gratitude to the analysts and investors in and out of Korea for taking part in the 2025 Q3 Pearl Abyss earnings presentation despite your busy schedules.

Before elaborating on today's business results, I would like to ask for your understanding, regarding the following: the financial and business results contained in today's earnings release have been prepared for the convenience of investors and is subject to change, depending on the final closing of our books. In addition, the accuracy and completeness of the financial and business results in the earnings results material are not guaranteed, and the company is not obliged to give updates of the accounts given after this date, so please take these factors into consideration.

We have here with us at the earnings presentation today, Pearl Abyss CEO, Heo Jin-young; CBO, Kim Kyung-man; and CFO, Jo Mi-yeong. We will first hear the business performance presentation highlights from CFO, Jo Mi-yeong, and then engage in a Q&A session.

Jo Mi-yeong
Greetings, everyone. I am Jo Mi-yeong. Thank you once again for taking part in our company's earnings conference call despite your busy schedules.

I would like to elaborate on 2025 Q3 major business activities and performance. Q3 revenues on the back of Black Desert and EVE stable live service grew 35% -- 34% in Q-o-Q. Black Desert in Q3 had a new class Wukong and new region Edania, and carried out large scale content update, and recorded the highest quarterly revenue since we started self-publishing in 2021.

In particular, demon realm Edania showed new PvP content Throne of Edana, and then added new stories that can be enjoyed cutscenes and with higher levels of difficulty and more rewards compared to the previous contents added more fun to the game. In case of console, since we started new device pay service from June, we held a first adventurous festivals and revealed our future roadmap.

In addition, based on our new platform, we quickly updated Land of the Morning Light and Magnus and others, and revenues increased more than twofold compared to the previous quarter. In the case of mobile, at Heidel Ball, we shared our updates for the second half of the year and rolled out a range of exciting events for users to enjoy together. In addition, we showcased Land of the Morning Light, Hwanghae province, and new class Seonin, and based on stable service, revenues slightly increased.

In the case of EVE Online, there was the expansion of packs, Legion, additional update, and starting of the Alliance Tournament preliminary round, which added more fun to the game. User metrics are showing a consistent trend, continuing stable revenues. In addition, we have thoroughly made preparations for new services to increase revenues. Crimson Desert participated in Gamescom, PAX West, and Tokyo Game Show, and successfully finished our open world questline demo.

We also announced our release date through Sony's State of Play event, and started pre-orders. In case of EVE Frontier, while engaging in tests continued from the previous quarter, we finalized our blockchain platform, and are smoothly proceeding with the procedures needed to move on to the next phase.

Next, I will walk you through 2025 2025 Q3 performance. Q3 operating revenue posted KRW106.8 billion and driven by strong revenues of Black Desert, it increased 34% Q-o-Q and operating profit posted KRW10.6 billion and turned positive. Net profit stood at KRW29 billion turning also to a profit due to foreign exchange gains and corporate tax refunds.

I will explain in more detail about our operating revenue. First is operating revenue for major IPs. The operating revenue from this quarter's Black Desert IP posted KRW79.5 billion, a 45% increase Q-o-Q. EVE IP operating revenue posted KRW20.8 billion and with the fading away of the effect from large scale updates in Q2, decreased 14% Q-on-Q. Regarding the operating revenue regional breakdown, it was 18% for Korea, 17% for Asia and 65% for NA Europe. And in the case of operating revenue for different platforms, it was 85% for PC, 10% for mobile and 5% for consoles.

Next, I will cover operating expenses. Q3 operating expenses posted KRW96.2 billion, a 5% increase Q-o-Q. In case of labor costs, it recorded KRW46.8 billion and decreased 0.7% Q-o-Q. For your reference, as of Q3 end, there was 1,323 headcount and there 752 with developer positions, which is 57% of the total headcount.

In the case of commissions, with the PG commission increase following increase of payment, it posted KRW20.9 billion, a 15% increase Q-o-Q. In the case of advertisement expenses, with the increase of costs incurred by Crimson Desert Game Show participation and hands-on events, it posted KRW13.6 billion, a 30% increase Q-o-Q.

Lastly, I will cover 2025 Q4 major highlights. Like Desert in October, open the 3-to-3 PvP content, Arena of Solare regular season, and in November, we plan to hold a global Master Class PvP tournament. In addition, we will introduce a new female class for the first time in a long time to make the game even more enjoyable.

Apart from this, in December, at the Calpheon Ball, we plan to share our future direction and give updates to our plans. In the case of Black Desert Console, since we switched to the new device, we are quickly showing off content.

In October, we launched joint content Atoraxxion, Yolunakea, and Orzekea, and we will update the new region, Demon Realm Edania, which was very popular after first being shown in PC in the previous quarter. In the case of Mobile, we held a PvP tournament 2025 Martial God Championship and carried out Land of the Morning Light: Seoul Part 2 update. In addition, we plan to improve the early story and add new co-op raid and continuously upgrade the game.

In case of EVE, we will update the new expansion pack catalyst in November and plan to hold the last round of the annual PvP Tournament, Alliance Tournament, which we held from the previous quarter to elevate user participation.

We are also smoothly proceeding with preparing for new titles to secure our new growth engines. First, in the case of EVE Frontier, we will continue tests in Q4 as well and focus on new user acquisition. Going forward, while validating the game, we will continue with marketing to secure core user acquisition.

For Crimson Desert, in October, we revealed a new chapter through IGN First. IGN showed six videos of direct game playing experiences and the videos received rave reviews from numerous global users and achieved high view counts, greatly helping to boost anticipation for the game. In addition, in Korea with AMD, we opened a pop-up store where visitors could experience the vast open world of Crimson Desert as well as immersive combat, expanding our points of contact with users. Apart from this, Crimson Desert is meeting influencers and media from many places around the world. And while engaging in diverse marketing to increase the game's recognition, we plan to focus on the release.

Crimson Desert this year went to many game shows around the world and met as many potential users as possible and worked very hard to promote the game. In this process, we confirmed our release date and started pre orders and took one step closer to our release. For the remaining four months, we will execute marketing, which will make the game more well known, and we will enhance the game's overall completeness to deliver the best open world experience possible. We know that as many of you have been waiting and we will do our best until the end to deliver research worthy of your support. All the employees here at Pearl Abyss will do our very best until the end. We kindly ask for your continued interest and encouragement.

Thank you very much.

With this, we will conclude Pearl Abyss 2025 Q3 earnings presentation and start our Q&A session.

Questions And Answers
Operator
(Question And Answer)

Now Q&A session will begin. (Operator Instructions). The first question will be provided by Jaemin Ahn from NH Investment & Securities. Please go ahead with your question.

Q - Jaemin Ahn
. Thank you for the opportunity. I am Jaemin Ahn from NH Securities. And I have two questions. First is about your Crimson Desert pre orders. Can you give us a number about how many pre orders that you have taken? And if you can update us on your next year first half marketing plans, it will be greatly appreciated. My second question is a just in case question. Do you think there is a possibility for Crimson Desert to get delayed in its release? Thank you very much.

A - Heo
Thank you very much for your questions. You asked about our pre-order status, and regarding our current situation, well, we have never had AAA game pre-order experience before. So I would like to say that it is quite difficult for us to accurately predict or to give a judgment on the current sales amount accurately. However, we are hearing from our partners that our pre-orders are at the level of other new AAA IPs, so we are receiving very positive feedback regarding the pre-order status.

Looking at the different platforms, we are seeing that it seems that in console, we are seeing the largest pre-orders, and it seems to be mainly because we had demos using the console pad, and we had our release date that was actually announced through the Sony event. However, we are concentrating on our marketing in order for us to have great pre-orders not only on the console, but in Steam as well, so we are confident that we can have very meaningful pre-orders before our release.

Regarding your question about our marketing plans, currently, Crimson Desert is enhancing our quality and are concentrating on the last finishing touches before our release. In the case of marketing, we started off with the Summer Game Fest to the Sony Game Show, and around the world at different game shows, we provided demonstrations to our users and media. We worked hard to promote our game, and in this process, we confirmed our release date and started pre-orders.

So for the remaining four months or so, we are going to work hard to increase the recognition of the game. And from mid-January, which is about two months before the release date, we are going to start off our full-fledged marketing with our partners, so that we can increase our sales.

You also asked if we have a possibility of delay of the release. And at our company, at the Sony State of Play event held in September, we gave the Crimson Desert release date officially as 20th of March in Korean calendar. And this actually was a result of a very long thought out process taking into consideration different situations and different things that could happen.

Currently, we are very smoothly proceeding with preparations for the release. And since we started pre orders, we are going to do our best to release our game meeting the March schedule that we had announced, because we want to meet the users' expectations, who are avidly waiting for Crimson Desert.

A - Kim Yoon
It was our CEO, Heo, Jin young, who answered your questions.

Operator
Currently, there are no participants with questions. (Operator Instructions) It seems that there are no remaining questions in the queue. But with this, we will conclude Pearl Abyss 2025 Q3 earnings conference call. Thank you for your participation.