While he hasn’t offered an official launch window for DokeV just yet, Jin-young said that it will take “about two to three years from the current timeline to completion and polishing.” It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, especially since DokeV has seemingly been changed up quite a few times during development. As a result, it has also seen several delays over the years.

DokeV was first unveiled all the way back in 2019. While details about the title remain nebulous, at the time, Pearl Abyss had described it as revolving around players seeking Dokebi – strange creatures that gain their strength from dreams. A gameplay trailer had also been showcased in 2021.

In 2022, Jin-young had said that both DokeV and Crimson Desert would be coming out in the same year. “DokeV, along with Crimson Desert, is being developed to meet our internal development roadmap,” he said at the time. “However, since this year our core development team is immersing itself in developing Crimson Desert, we will do our best so that for DokeV. We will be able to disclose additional information as they are done.” Interestingly, a report from back in 2024 had indicated that both games would be out in FY 2025 (which didn’t happen).

As for the studio’s recent release, Jin-young has stated that Crimson Desert is close to selling 5 million copies. “We aim to quickly share news of reaching 5 million copies sold with our shareholders, and all employees will work hard to achieve the best possible results by the end of the year,” he said.

Possibly to further expand the player base of Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss has also started R&D on the Nintendo Switch 2. The biggest obstacle for a port, according to Jin-young, is the fact that Nintendo’s platform has weaker hardware compared to other modern gaming hardware. “Compared to other consoles, the Switch still has lower specifications, so there are things we would have to give up,” he said before revealing that the studio had “begun R&D with interest.”

Jin-young has also spoken about one of the biggest criticisms faced by Crimson Desert – its weak story. He acknowledged that the storyline was quite “lacking” and accepted it as being “due to our shortcomings.” He went on to note that the development team “focused on strengthening the gameplay aspects that we are good at, and we hope to better complement this part in our next project.”

In the meantime, take a look at the details about the most recent update for Crimson Desert, which brought in five permanent mounts and reduced stamina use during flying. The open-world game is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more.

According to the leak, development on Crimson Desert is apparently almost complete, and the studio will be focusing on releasing it in Q1 2025. Leading up to this, marketing on the game is going to kick off in earnest, with a new demo seemingly planned for Gamescom this year.

Development on DokeV is also seemingly continuing, with the game’s release date planned for some time in the year following the release of Crimson Desert. Plan 8 is similarly planned for release after Crimson Desert—namely in FY 2026.

Both Crimson Desert and DokeV were announced quite some time ago, with both titles having their originally-planned release windows pushed back to an unknown date. Pearl Abyss itself is yet to make any announcements regarding the titles.

Regarding of "Pearl Abyss" and their IP's.

"Crimson Desert" is almost finished, the marketing will start this Summer with a brand new demo at Gamescom 2024. Unfortunately, it will not release this year, but expect it to launch in Q1 2025.

(1/3) pic.twitter.com/iiPT1BZYfA

— Lunatic Ignus (@ignusthewise) May 14, 2024

"Doke V" development accelerated since "CD" reached the final stage of development, you can expect the game to launch within a year after "Crimson Desert".

(2/3) pic.twitter.com/GYjWcU9j2R

— Lunatic Ignus (@ignusthewise) May 14, 2024

"Plan 8" is the 3rd game that "Pearl Abyss" wants to launch soon after "Doke V", expect the game to launch in FY26.

They also have a brand new AAA unnanounced IP that will most likely be revealed at "GStar".

(3/3) pic.twitter.com/HUDKBxOZ7h

— Lunatic Ignus (@ignusthewise) May 14, 2024

It’s now releasing after next year, while Crimson Desert will launch in the second half of 2023. MassivelyOP reported rumors that DokeV lost a “significant number” of core developers. In a conference call, Pearl Abyss revealed that a loss of developers occurred due to the completion of its intern program.

CEO Heo Jin-young said, “DokeV, along with Crimson Desert, is being developed to meet our internal development roadmap. However, since this year our core development team is immersing itself in developing Crimson Desert, we will do our best so that for DokeV. We will be able to disclose additional information as they are done.”

Announced for PC in 2019, DokeV focuses on players locating Dokebi, which gain strength from dreams. The first gameplay trailer debuted at Gamescom Opening Night Live last year. Along with exceptional visuals, it showcased several traversal methods like skateboards and umbrellas for gliding. Battles against various creatures (which are likely Dokebi) were also revealed. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.