이 기사는 2022년 05월 11일 08:13 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean gaming firm Pearl Abyss established a committee in charge of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues as part of efforts to strengthen its ESG practices, with the company’s exposure to developed Western markets continuing to increase.

The ESG committee was created under the company’s board of directors in March, according to industry sources. This came after Pearl Abyss formed an ESG task force last June, the first such move among gaming companies listed on Kosdaq.

These moves are in line with ESG efforts in the South Korean gaming industry. NCSoft formed an ESG committee in March last year and other large gaming companies like Com2uS and Netmarble followed suit. Several major firms in the industry also issued their first ESG reports.

Pearl Abyss is considered a relatively small player in the industry, with total assets of 1.35 trillion won ($1.06 billion) at the end of 2021. This compares to Netmarble’s 10.6 trillion won and NCSoft’s 4.5 trillion won.

The moves by Pearl Abyss to strengthen its ESG capabilities are ahead of its bigger rivals, such as Kakao Games and Krafton which do not have ESG committees. One of the biggest reasons for that is the company’s increasing exposure to developed Western markets, which are more conscious about ESG factors.

Pearl Abyss’ revenue from the US and Europe represented 51% of its total revenue in 2021, up from 27% in 2019 and 44% in 2020. This contrasts with other mid-sized South Korean gaming firms whose revenues mostly come from China and the Southeast Asian region.


Pearl Abyss is the only mid-sized South Korean gaming firm rated by MSCI ESG Research because its AAA games like Black Desert are popular among users in Western countries.

Pearl Abyss’ MSCI ESG rating was downgraded from BB to B in June last year, meaning the company is a laggard among 75 companies in the media and entertainment industry rated by MSCI.

The rating downgrade was largely because of a low score in the Governance pillar. Pearl Abyss was rated as a laggard on corporate governance and corporate behavior, the two key issues comprising the Governance pillar.


Pearl Abyss does not have an audit committee yet. Under South Korean law, companies with total assets of 2 trillion won or more are required to form an audit committee consisting of at least three members.

Pearl Abyss was also rated poorly in the Environment pillar like many other gaming companies. Massively multiplayer online game servers consume a large amount of power, leading to an increase in carbon emissions.

But the company was rated as a leader on privacy and data security, one of the key issues comprising the Social pillar. Pearl Abyss has an information security committee led by its chief information security officer and chief privacy officer. The committee’s members include the company’s top executives such as chief executive officer Heo Jin-young and chief technology officer Ji Hee-hwan.

The creation of the ESG committee may help improve Pearl Abyss’ ESG rating in the future, industry watchers said. The company’s plan to relocate its headquarters to Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Provice, in July is expected to help reduce its carbon emissions as well. (Reporting by Won-ji Hwang)