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Pearl Abyss brings 'Black Desert Mobile' to Japan, Southeast Asia

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"Black Desert Mobile" developed by Pearl Abyss / Courtesy of Pearl Abyss

By Jun Ji-hye

Pearl Abyss is speeding up its plans to release "Black Desert Mobile" overseas, hoping for the game to lift its sales further, following success in the domestic market.

An official from the game firm said Friday, "We set up our overseas subsidiary in Japan, Pearl Abyss JP, on July 13."

The official refused to elaborate further on the details, but market observers say Pearl Abyss JP seems to be tasked with publishing "Black Desert Mobile" in the Japanese market.

The mobile version of its popular multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), "Black Desert," is scheduled to be released in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, Aug. 29.

The company also plans to release the mobile game in Southeast Asia, North America and Europe within the first half of next year.

Pearl Abyss JP is the fifth overseas subsidiaries of the Korean company. Since it established one in Taiwan in 2016, the firm has set up subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Holland and Singapore. The firm has sought to publish its game directly in the markets there in a bid to expand its influence overseas.

Pearl Abyss CEO Jung Kyung-in said during a conference call on the firm's second-quarter earnings last week that the firm plans to establish another subsidiary in the United States during the third quarter.

In order to expand its global business and develop new games, the company will increase the number of employees to 700 this year from its current 500.

Pearl Abyss has been riding high on "Black Desert Mobile," released in February.

In its second-quarter earnings report, the Korean game developer posted 112.7 billion won ($98 million) in sales with a 54.8 billion won operating profit. The sales and operating profit surged 241.2 percent and 147.1 percent from a year ago, respectively.

The firm was one of the few game companies here who saw an increase in its operating profit. Most other firms saw downward curves in their operating profits during the April-June period due to delays in releasing new games and increases in marketing and personnel expenses.

"Black Desert Mobile" continues to be placed at the No.2 spot at the Google Play Store in sales after NCSOFT's "Lineage M," as of Friday.

Cho Seok-woo in charge of financial affairs at Pearl Abyss noted the firm was also making efforts to diversify its game publishing platforms to attract more users. "We are in the final stages of developing the console version," he said during the conference call.


Jun Ji-hye jjh@koreatimes.co.kr


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