Pearl Abyss – minus Pearl Abyss America head Jeonghee Jin, who left for NCsoft America this past summer – released its Q3 2024 financials this week, and it’s a mixed bag as it has been most of the year.

Overall, Pearl Abyss saw its operating revenue fall to 79.5B KRW – about 56.5M USD, a 2.8% dip since last quarter and a 6.4% drop since Q3 2023. Q3 2024 marks the third quarter this year when the company posted operating profits in the red. So what exactly is going on with the MMOs?

Well, at least some of the decline can be laid at Black Desert’s feet. The sprawling franchise put in its worst quarter all year (54M KRW), which is particularly concerning as Black Desert PC launched the Land of the Morning Light Seoul expansion in the middle of September, and Pearl Abyss went all-out on promoting it (including sending press and influencers to a castle for the reveal at Heidel Ball at the end of June). It doesn’t seem to be any one region or platform driving the decline, either.

On the other hand, EVE Online’s revenue has been fairly flat all year, though it’s in a much better position than past years, and like a lot of MMOs, EVE has backloaded the year with content: The Revenant expansion literally just launched yesterday, so revenue from that will show up in Q4. EVE Galaxy Conquest also just rolled out a few weeks back, so that hasn’t figured into the financials yet.

Finally, much noise was made over Crimson Desert – the main clog in the company’s pipeline – during the investor call itself. We’ve been tapping our feet impatiently over not just the long-delayed game but clarity on whether the multiplayer features would remain intact, something nobody representing Pearl Abyss has seemed willing to tell us over the last few months. As Nosygamer recaps, Pearl Abyss told investors it’s still at least considering multiplayer and DLC, but whether multiplayer makes it into the launch – and when exactly that launch is happening – is anybody’s guess.

• Pearl Abyss Q1 2025: Black Desert Mobile’s Chinese endeavor is over • We finally have some clean numbers on how well EVE Online and Black Desert performed last year • Pearl Abyss Q4 2024: PA is obscuring EVE Online and Black Desert revenues in its best quarter all year • Pearl Abyss Q3 2024: Black Desert declines, EVE Online flattens, Crimson Desert dithers • Pearl Abyss Q2 2024: Equinox bolstered EVE Online revenues as Crimson Desert waits in the wings • Pearl Abyss Q1 2024: Revenues hold steady as Crimson Desert gears up for reveals • Black Desert celebrates 55M registered players and €2B revenue since 2014 • Pearl Abyss Q4 2023: Well at least EVE Online had a good financial year • Pearl Abyss Q3 2023: Black Desert’s Land of the Morning Light pulled PA out of its slump • Pearl Abyss Q2 2023: EVE surges, Black Desert stumbles, Crimson Desert hedges • Pearl Abyss Q1 2023: Black Desert and EVE Online revenues continue to decline • CCP Games’ CEO defends Project Awakening’s existence as the studio seeks a blockchain ecosystem dev • MMO Week in Review: Carn Dûm, Diablo IV, and CCP’s blockchain gamble • CCP Games laid off more than dozen staffers from its EVE Online and FPS studios • Pearl Abyss Q4 2022: Revenues decline as Black Desert and EVE hold steady and Crimson Desert malingers • Pearl Abyss Q3 2022: DokeV and Crimson Desert delays, CCP’s new blockchain game, and EVE Online’s uptick • CCP Games’ VR multiplayer game aspirations expire as EVE Valkyrie, Sparc, and EVE Gunjack go dark • Pearl Abyss Q1 2022: Black Desert revenues take a hit, EVE Online hangs in there • EVE Online boss: NFT stands for ‘Not for Tranquility’ • EVE Online and Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss believes it can ‘create a stable blockchain ecosystem’ • Desert Oasis: Unearthing the origin story of Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss • Pearl Abyss downgraded DokeV from an MMORPG to ‘open-world action adventure’ • Pearl Abyss has delayed Crimson Desert indefinitely • Pearl Abyss Q4 2020: An overall drop in profits and revenue but a revenue rise on PC • Pearl Abyss Q3 2020: EVE Online’s revenues are up 45% YOY, Crimson Desert reveal coming in December • Pearl Abyss Q2 2020: EVE Online is doing great, NA/EU drives 48% of company revenues • Pearl Abyss Q1 2020 financials: Black Desert, EVE Online revenues hold steady • Pearl Abyss had a strong Q4 2019, but CCP’s EVE-spinoff Project Nova is officially canceled • G-Star 2019: Pearl Abyss fully reveals Crimson Desert, Plan 8, Shadow Arena, and DokeV • Pearl Abyss announces three new MMOs: Crimson Desert, Plan 8, and DokeV • Q2 2019 financials: Black Desert’s Pearl Abyss rakes in huge profits, builds six new games • Black Desert has 18M registered players as Pearl Abyss counts $1B gross sales • EVE Online developer CCP Games bought by Black Desert Online studio Pearl Abyss • Q1 2018: Black Desert studio Pearl Abyss had a record first quarter thanks to mobile Source: Pearl Abyss, NosyGamer Note for future researchersPA puts the call up first, and the pdf presentation is linked in the call page even when it isn’t up yet in the IR list.