First off, what is Pearl Abyss Iceland ehf. In their own words:
Pearl Abyss Iceland ehf. is a holding company established in 2018. In October 2018 the Company bought all issued and outstanding shares in CCP ehf. CCP ehf. designs, develops, markets and operates immersive virtual worlds and games accessed over the internet. The Company is headquartered in Iceland and owns and operates subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, China, and the United States.
I'll add in CCP Games description of itself from the CCP ehf 2024 financial statements.
CCP ehf. designs, develops, markets, and operates immersive virtual worlds and games accessible over the internet. Our mission is to create virtual worlds more meaningful than real life. Headquartered in Iceland, the Company operates subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, China, and the United States.
Yes, creating virtual worlds more meaningful than real life isn't just a slogan pulled out for press interviews and Fanfest.
The next paragraph covered the totals that get the most coverage in the press: revenue, profits/loss, and employee headcount.
In 2024, The Group generated revenues of USD 60.2 million, compared to USD 56.0 million in the previous year. Notably, game revenue increased by USD 4.5 million (8%) year-on-year, reflecting strong ongoing engagement across EVE Online and the launch of new titles including EVE Galaxy Conquest. However, the Company reports a net loss of USD 19.5 million, compared to a USD 18.8 million net loss in 2023. This result is primarily due to deliberate and increased investment in multiple active development projects — including EVE Frontier, EVE Vanguard, and the Carbon open-source platform — which are scheduled to enter key release phases from mid-2025 onwards. These investments, while impacting short-term profitability, are central to the Group’s strategy and position the Group for strategic and sustainable growth in the years ahead. As of year-end, shareholders’ equity stood at USD 89.2 million, with an equity ratio of 40.2%, and total assets of USD 221.6 million. The Group employed 412 people at year-end, compared to 381 at the beginning of the year.
The headline numbers are:
- Revenue up 8% ($4.5 million)
- Losses increased to $19.5 million from 2023's $18.8 million
- Headcount increased 8.1% (to 412)
The losses are racking up while CCP works to develop two major on-line games one of which is a first-person shooter while developing Carbon. Sounds a lot like 2011 except CCP has a larger financial cushion as Pearl Abyss provided PAI a $50 million loan in 2023. So, no danger of the company collapsing in 2025.
I won't follow the document in order. Instead, what was said about the two EVE Online expansions, Equinox and Revenant? First, the summer expansion.
The year saw a major expansion in the Group’s portfolio and platform capabilities. In June, Equinox launched for EVE Online, introducing expansive changes to nullsec sovereignty warfare. It added new Upwell structures, enabling capsuleers to efficiently harvest planetary resources and customize territories. New industrial hulls and enhanced defensive capabilities arrived alongside the SKINR personalization tool, empowering capsuleers to express themselves through ship design. These innovations sparked renewed engagement across the landscape of New Eden.
A little later on the winter expansion received a summary.
Meanwhile, Revenant, the second major EVE Online expansion of the year, launched in November. It introduced new SKINR upgrades, Corporation Projects enhancements, and powerful ships themed around the enigmatic Deathless — a faction that now plays a pivotal narrative role across CCP titles. In early 2025, Revenant received a significant post-launch content update, deepening both narrative and gameplay layers.
Notice the first item listed for the winter expansion was the new SKINNR upgrades? I had some thoughts about CCP introducing a feature that would increase demand for PLEX at a time with low supplies of the currency. The prominence of place in the report leads me to believe the SKINNR system is a top priority for the company.
After EVE Online came news of EVE Vanguard.
EVE Vanguard, the Group’s sandbox FPS module set within the EVE Universe, advanced rapidly throughout 2024. Player feedback during the limited-time Solstice event and public playtests helped shape the game’s direction, culminating in a detailed roadmap for the Solstice Era. The team emphasized direct collaboration with our Founders Access community as we build toward launching into Steam Early Access.
As we found out at Fanfest, Vanguard will reach Steam Early Access in July 2026. Expect more development work throughout 2025.
Next came a description of the latest game launched by CCP Games, EVE Galaxy Conquest.
In October, EVE Galaxy Conquest launched worldwide on iOS and Android. This mobile-first 4X strategy title, developed by the Group’s Shanghai studio, blends diplomacy, territory control, and epic-scale fleet battles to deliver the power and politics of New Eden to handheld devices. The game continues to evolve with post-launch content and live operations.
Speaking of mobile games, EVE Echoes is not mentioned in the board of directors summary. Perhaps the fact that NetEase only licenses the intellectual property from CCP doesn't make the game worth noting.
Then we get to EVE Frontier.
September saw the official reveal of EVE Frontier, the Group’s ambitious new hardcore survival MMO. With Founder Access underway and Early Access planned for June 2025, Frontier challenges players to survive and thrive in a fractured cosmos overrun by rogue AI. Featuring a single-shard server architecture, emergent construction via Smart Assemblies, and deep player-driven economy systems, EVE Frontier extends the spirit of EVE into a fresh new genre space.
While not showing up in the PAI financial reports, we have a pretty good idea of spending on Frontier's development by looking at CCP ehf's financial statements. Since 2022 Angelice Prime Foundation has paid CCP ehf a total of $39,980,542, including $10,187,021 in 2024, for "supply of services".
This money does not show up on PAI's statement as Angelice Prime Foundation is listed as a related party. From one of the footnotes:
Because the Group has power to direct the relevant activities of Angelice Prime Foundation through contractual arrangements, the Group has control over Angelice Prime Foundation and its subsidiaries even though the Group doesn't have any ownership interest and voting rights in Angelice Prime Foundation.
Is this what is known as a creative accounting practice designed to lower tax liability or perhaps gain a tax credit? Because when taking the payments from Angelice Prime Foundation to CCP into account, PAI's loss drops from $19.5 million down to $9.3 million. And 2023's $18.8 million loss is reduced to $1.6 million. I am not an accountant so I'm not sure if I read everything correctly. Just one of the reasons I'm trying to stick to the text of the board of directors' statement.
Finally we get down to a specific technical project.
In March 2024, the Group announced its intention to open-source the Carbon Development Platform. This initiative provides developers with access to the Group’s proprietary game engine and tools, supporting a more open and collaborative ecosystem for game creation and experimentation.
Last but not least, we get down to dividend payments.
The Board of Directors does not propose dividend payments to shareholders in 2025. With regard to the allocation of loss and changes in the equity of the Group, the Board refers to the Notes attached to the Consolidated Financial Statements.At the beginning of the year-end and at year end 2024 Pearl Abyss Corp. is the sole shareholder in the Company.
Not surprising that Pearl Abyss does not want to pay itself a dividend.
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