Pearl Abyss Sets DokeV for the Second Half of 2028

Pearl Abyss is targeting the second half of 2028 for DokeV, the creature-collecting open-world game it first revealed at G-STAR 2019 in South Korea. The studio confirmed the release window at a July 7 shareholder briefing that also touched on Crimson Desert’s platform plans and a stock-price apology from CEO Heo Jin-young.

Lee Dong-won, Pearl Abyss’s chief operating officer, said DokeV has moved past world-building and asset creation and is in the play loop verification stage. Pearl Abyss is positioning DokeV as the first project to use the rapid development cycle it built for Crimson Desert, which launched March 19, 2026.

DokeV Locks In a Second Half of 2028 Release

Pearl Abyss’s target release is the second half of 2028, Lee told shareholders, per the briefing’s full DokeV and Crimson Desert update. The window is the most specific public date the studio has tied to the game, replacing years of “no earlier than” language. As recently as October 2024, Pearl Abyss had said DokeV would arrive “around 18 months after Crimson Desert’s launch” and “no earlier than 2027.”

That October 2024 expectation has now been formally tightened. The game is past its world-building and asset-creation stages and is in the content production phase, where the team is building and verifying the play loop, according to the briefing. Once that loop is locked, Lee said Pearl Abyss plans to hold demonstrations for global users.

The briefing did not pin down a price, a platform roster, or a release month. The window covers July through December of that year, putting DokeV between two and a half and three years out from the July 7 briefing.

Why Pearl Abyss Sounds More Confident Now

The new date sits on top of a production setup different from the one DokeV was originally built on. Lee told shareholders that Pearl Abyss spent Crimson Desert’s development building a process it could reuse. “The true goal was to build a development process,” he said.

Lee ran through five pieces of that process. Pearl Abyss has secured a next-generation engine, the BlackSpace Engine, along with multi-platform optimization systems, a maintainable codebase, highly scalable asset and content production pipelines, and an experienced workforce with a collaborative system. DokeV will be the first project developed using what the company is calling this rapid-cycle system.

• A next-generation engine (the BlackSpace Engine)
• Multi-platform optimization systems
• A maintainable codebase
• Highly scalable asset and content production pipelines
• An experienced workforce with a collaborative system

Pearl Abyss’s messaging has changed in two months. In May 2026, the studio told investors DokeV was still in pre-production and that a new title every two to three years put the release window somewhere in 2028 or 2029. Two months later, the same studio is calling DokeV the first major test of a faster cycle and putting a calendar on it. Pearl Abyss’s last public release, Crimson Desert, sold 2 million copies on launch day and 6 million cumulatively in 83 days, giving the company a financial cushion to back the new confidence.

Lee framed the result as a Korean-game-industry first. “This is a path no other Korean game company has taken before,” he said, calling the launch a foothold in the open-world single-player package market where the world’s top game companies already compete.

Six Years of DokeV in the Open

DokeV was first unveiled as “Project V” on November 7, 2019, and was revealed as DokeV with a trailer a week later at Pearl Abyss Connect 2019, held at G-STAR 2019 in South Korea. The first gameplay trailer followed at Gamescom: Opening Night Live on August 25, 2021, in the form of Pearl Abyss’s 2021 DokeV gameplay trailer reveal. After that, public updates went quiet as Pearl Abyss poured resources into Crimson Desert.

1. November 7, 2019: “Project V” revealed as DokeV with a trailer
2. November 14, 2019: Pearl Abyss Connect 2019 trailer at G-STAR 2019 in South Korea
3. August 25, 2021: First gameplay trailer at Gamescom: Opening Night Live
4. October 2024: Pearl Abyss expected DokeV no earlier than 2027, “around 18 months after Crimson Desert’s launch”
5. May 2026: DokeV reported in pre-production; release window 2028-2029
6. July 7, 2026: Shareholder briefing confirms second half of 2028 target

Pearl Abyss founder Daeil Kim is the executive producer on DokeV, with Sangyoung Kim, formerly a lead Black Desert Online animator, as lead producer. The studio is still using the same BlackSpace engine that powered Crimson Desert. With a public date attached, the game moves from indefinite pre-production into a tracked milestone for the first time in its six-year public life.

Crimson Desert’s Six Million Sales Built the Case

The numbers that let Pearl Abyss talk about a faster cycle come from Crimson Desert. Lee reported that Crimson Desert sold 2 million units on launch day and a cumulative 6 million units on a full-price basis, per Crimson Desert’s March 19 launch notice and the briefing.

Lee also said the run had built a brand promise he expects to lower future marketing costs. “If Pearl Abyss makes it, it’s worth buying,” he said, calling that perception a lever for the next releases.

• 2 million units on Crimson Desert’s launch day
• 6 million units cumulatively on a full-price basis
• 6 million reached in 83 days, per COO Lee
• “If Pearl Abyss makes it, it’s worth buying” as the brand promise Lee tied to lower future marketing costs

Despite the 6 million units, Lee acknowledged the share price remains similar to pre-launch levels. The briefing opened with an apology from CEO Heo, who described the stock decline as a concern the company takes seriously.

What Else the Briefing Covered

The DokeV update was one of four formal topics Heo said he wanted to address: the future of Crimson Desert, DokeV’s development, the execution of shareholder return policy, and corporate value and information disclosure.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere apologies. Management takes the disappointment, anxiety, and frustration regarding the recent stock performance very seriously.

Heo, Pearl Abyss’s chief executive, opened the briefing with the apology.

On shareholder returns, CFO Cho Mi-young laid out a dividend policy of ₩10 billion annually plus 10% of net profit, with 50% of treasury share cancellation already completed. A ₩100 billion share buyback is also underway within the year. On Crimson Desert’s platform future, Heo said the studio is reviewing a Nintendo Switch 2 version and is already at a stage where basic gameplay is possible, though he stressed that this is not a simple port and that a release schedule has not been set.

Pearl Abyss Is Holding New Footage Close

For DokeV fans, the next visible milestone is whether Pearl Abyss shows anything new. Lee was direct on that.

Releasing footage is a strategic decision to build market anticipation. Because final polish significantly enhances quality in the later stages, releasing it too early creates a gap. It must not become a one-off event just to show progress.

Lee, the chief operating officer, gave the reasoning at the briefing.

DokeV’s 2019 and 2021 trailers set a public expectations bar the game has not yet shown itself matching. The studio’s new plan is to wait for the play loop to be verified, then show the game as a near-final product rather than the work in progress. DokeV now has a public date. The first public glimpse of how that date will look is still to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is DokeV coming out?

Pearl Abyss is targeting the second half of 2028 for DokeV, COO Lee Dong-won said at the studio’s July 7 shareholder briefing. The window covers July through December 2028 and is the first concrete release target Pearl Abyss has attached to the game since the title was revealed in 2019.

What kind of game is DokeV?

DokeV is a creature-collecting open-world action-adventure game being developed by Pearl Abyss, the South Korean studio behind Black Desert Online and Crimson Desert. Pearl Abyss founder Daeil Kim is the executive producer and Sangyoung Kim, a former lead Black Desert Online animator, is the lead producer.

Is DokeV coming to Nintendo Switch 2?

Pearl Abyss has not confirmed a DokeV version for Nintendo Switch 2. The Switch 2 update at the July 7 briefing was about Crimson Desert, which is being reviewed for the new console but does not yet have a release date.

Why has DokeV been in development for so long?

DokeV was first revealed in 2019 but Pearl Abyss shifted most of its resources to finishing Crimson Desert, which launched March 19, 2026. The studio says the production infrastructure built for Crimson Desert will now let it ship DokeV faster than the original timeline would have allowed.