Pearl Abyss, the South Korean studio behind the upcoming action RPG Crimson Desert, saw its stock price take a sharp hit after the game’s first reviews went live.

The company’s stock was at ₩65,600 ($43.79) when the market closed on Wednesday. Reviews for Crimson Desert then went public Wednesday night, and while the reception has been moderately positive, it wasn’t the standout response many were expecting. By the time the South Korean market opened on Thursday, the share price had already fallen to ₩47,800 ($31.90) which is a drop of roughly 27%. It kept sliding from there, closing the day at ₩46,000 ($30.70), a total single-day decline of 29.8%, as reported by Seoul Economic Daily.

Crimson Desert currently holds a Metacritic score of 78, which the site classifies as “generally favourable.” The market, however, appeared to be expecting something higher, particularly given the attention the game received for its visually impressive world and environments.

Despite the stock drop, early sales numbers for the game are looking strong. Crimson Desert climbed from ninth to first place on Steam’s top-selling games chart heading into its release, pointing to a high number of pre-orders. It’s also sitting at number four on the US PlayStation sales chart by dollar sales, behind only MLB The Show 26, NBA 2K26, and Fortnite, a detail noted by Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese games industry consultancy firm Kantan Games.

On the technical side, Sony confirmed earlier this week that Crimson Desert will support the upgraded PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) feature, which has been rolling out to PlayStation 5 Pro owners this month.