Crimson Desert developer gives every employee $3,400 bonus to celebrate the game's success

It's rare to see a positive news story in the world of videogames. Developers are being laid off, live-service games are being shut down, and the industry seems to generally be on fire. However, occasionally there are success stories, and even more occasionally those success stories benefit the hardworking developers who create the games we play instead of just the executives who scoop the cream off the top. Crimson Desert is one such success, and its developers have been richly rewarded for their efforts by developer Pearl Abyss.

Crimson Desert recently reached the milestone of selling five million copies, an impressive feat even for a fantasy game as hotly-anticipated as this. While its journey wasn't without some AI-generated roadblocks, the developers at Pearl Abyss have listened to player feedback and made myriad changes to the game since release, leaving it in an impressive state.

To celebrate this achievement, Pearl Abyss has given every developer who worked on the game a five million won / $3,400 / £2, 500 bonus, according to Korean media. This is believed to be in addition to their annual performance-based bonuses.

With nearly 750 employees at the company as of last year, the estimated total of the bonus paid out is 3.7 billion won / $2.5 million / £1.8 million. It's rare that employees get to see a slice of the profits of their labor in this way, so it's good to see Pearl Abyss doing the right thing.

"I express my deep respect and gratitude for the hard work of each and every one of you who created a product that the world is enthusiastic about," Pearl Abyss CEO Heo Jin-young said in an internal announcement reported by Money Today Broadcasting (machine translated). "I am paying a celebratory bonus for achieving five million sales to all employees who have silently fulfilled their roles in their respective positions.

"Our journey does not end here. The potential we confirmed today will be the most powerful driving force to overcome any challenge we face in the future."

What will the future hold for Pearl Abyss? It's impossible to say. While many would like Crimson Desert DLC, I reckon there's enough to do in the base game to keep us all playing for years. Perhaps it will move on to pastures new; try its hand at a different genre. Whatever it does, though, it will be emboldened by the knowledge that players loved its last release. That will hopefully empower the developers to keep pushing the boat out, trying new things, and creating brilliant experiences for us to enjoy.

As for the developers, they have been justly rewarded for their hard work. It's difficult to see why any of them would voluntarily leave the company after the executives put their money where their mouth is when it comes to praise. If Pearl Abyss can keep this group of developers together for years to come, who knows what it can achieve?