Pearl Abyss Plunges Over 7% on First Trading Day

DLC Boost Pushes Base Game Back to 3rd on Domestic Steam Chart, Profit-Taking Triggers Sell-off After High Expectations Pre-Priced

Pearl Abyss Plunges Over 7% on First Trading Day Following 'Crimson Desert DLC' Release

Doohyun "Biit" Lee [email protected] Nov 1, 2026 Korean (한국어) KO Add us on

On the first trading day following the launch of the first downloadable content (DLC) for 'Crimson Desert', Pearl Abyss shares fell over 7%. Driven by the DLC release, even the base game returned to the top ranks of the Steam sales chart, but the market viewed the event as an opportunity for profit-taking rather than a catalyst for further gains.

As of the morning of November 2, Pearl Abyss was trading at 32,450 won, down 2,550 won (7.29%) from the previous trading day. Opening at 34,850 won, the stock dipped as low as 31,550 won shortly after the market opened due to a heavy wave of selling.

The decline runs counter to the broader market trend. At the same time, the KOSPI was up 0.54% at 5,761.59, while the KOSDAQ rose 0.28% to 726.40. With the overall market rising, the stock's isolated 7% drop highlights stock-specific selling pressure.

The DLC's sales performance itself is not weak. On October 30, Pearl Abyss globally released its first DLC, 'Charting the Unknown', about seven months after the base game's launch. As of the morning of November 2, the DLC rose 62 spots from the previous week to 7th place on Steam's domestic Top Sellers list (by revenue). The base game, 'Crimson Desert Enhanced', climbed 28 spots to 3rd place. On the global charts, the base game and DLC newly entered at 9th and 18th place, respectively.

Notably, the base game ranks higher than the DLC. Even without a discount, the base game is priced at 79,800 won, yet outearns the 27,800 won DLC in revenue rankings. This suggests the DLC has driven a surge of new players purchasing the main game. Meanwhile, domestic user reviews on Steam stand at 'Mostly Positive,' with 72% of 870 reviews being favorable.

Securities analysts believe expectations for the DLC were already priced into the stock. On September 4, the day Pearl Abyss announced the DLC release schedule, the stock surged 11.47% to close at 34,500 won. Even during the two-week release delay that followed, the stock held in the 34,000–35,000 won range, but once the launch event passed, sell orders poured in all at once.

A more fundamental overhang is the pipeline gap until the next title. Crimson Desert was a major commercial hit, selling 2 million copies on its first day, 5 million copies in 26 days, and 6 million copies in 83 days. However, the studio's next project, 'DokeV', is not scheduled for release until the second half of 2028. Expectations for Q3 earnings have also been lowered, with market consensus projecting revenue of 124.9 billion won and operating profit of 44.2 billion won, down 35.1% and 34.6% quarter-on-quarter, respectively.

Ultimately, Pearl Abyss's stock price sits lower than it did prior to Crimson Desert's launch. It is approximately 13% below last year's December 30 closing price of 37,400 won, and down 58% from its 52-week high of 77,400 won. Shareholder return measures—including its first dividend based on 2026 earnings and a 100 billion won treasury share buyback by the end of the year—have failed to prop up the stock. With the forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio remaining in the 6x range, the market continues to question whether earnings can be sustained beyond Crimson Desert.

Originally written in Korean, this article was translated with AI assistance and edited by a native English-speaking editor. Every translation is reviewed by our editorial team before publication. [Read Original]

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Doohyun "Biit" Lee

[email protected]