Crimson Desert developer's shares tank despite the game's strong Metacritic score

• Pearl Abyss shares reportedly dropped after Crimson Desert reviews were released
• The South Korean company's share price saw an almost 30% drop
• The game received an overall positive Metacritic score of 78

Pearl Abyss reportedly saw a huge drop in its share price following the release of Crimson Desert reviews.

That's according to Seoul Economic Daily, which reports that after the stock market opened today, March 19, the South Korean company's share price saw an almost 30% drop to ₩47,800 ($31.90) from ₩65,600 ($43.79).

"As of 11:27 a.m., Pearl Abyss was trading at 46,600 won, down 19,000 won (28.96%) from the previous session," the outlet writes, but as of writing, now sits at ₩46,000 ($30.70), which is a one-day drop of 29.8%.

This comes after the first reviews for the highly anticipated open-world action game were released worldwide, which were overall positive.

Currently, Crimson Desert has a Metacritic review score of 78 based on 86 critic reviews, which is pretty great, but hasn't managed to broach the 80 range due to some outlets giving the game a score in the 60 to 70 range.

It's also worth mentioning that all reviews were based on the PC version of the game, since no PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X editions were provided to outlets, so it's possible the game's score could change between now and its release, and thereafter.

In TechRadar Gaming's four-star Crimson Desert review, staff writer Isaiah Williams praised the game's open-world exploration, combat, and engaging story, but it suffers from some quality-of-life issues and unfair enemy encounters.

"Crimson Desert is easily one of the best action-adventure games of this generation. Developer Pearl Abyss provides stylish, remarkable combat in an exceptional open-world experience with spectacular visuals that make it a must-play," Williams writes. "It provides little to no guidance, giving players total freedom to think outside the box in both exploration and combat encounters, utilizing unique mechanics to overcome puzzles, enemy ambushes, and the other obstacles that await you.

"Overall, I had an absolute blast playing Crimson Desert, and while it's not a perfect game, it's a few tweaks and updates away from being a mastercraft, and is already a strong game of the year contender."

Crimson Desert officially launches today! For those playing on PS5, you can also look forward to Sony's updated PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) upscaling technology post-launch, which will be available for the PS5 Pro version.

The best gaming consoles

➡️ Read our full guide to the best gaming consoles
1. Best overall:
PlayStation 5 Slim
2. Best budget:
Xbox Series S
3. Best handheld:
Nintendo Switch 2
4. Most powerful:
PlayStation 5 Pro

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.