Pearl Abyss

The second office we would like to introduce you to is our US Subsidiary, the LA Office (LAO)!

Let’s find out more about the team largely responsible for delivering Pearl Abyss’ games to numerous users across North America.

< A view of Manhattan Beach Tower, in front of the beach where LAO is located.>

About LAO!  

LAO currently employs just over 30 people, whose main tasks are providing services in North America (operations and CM work), marketing, PR, and business development for Black Desert Console, PC, and mobile. They also promote the company by strengthening the Pearl Abyss brand as well as providing support for upcoming projects. 

Our administrative district is in Manhattan Beach, a small town near Los Angeles Airport. As the name suggests, LAO sits right beside a beach, on the second floor of a building called the ‘Manhattan Beach Tower’. 

What is it like to work at LAO?

LAO is full of local employees who encompass a rich diversity of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. And although English is the primary language, the numerous cultural viewpoints and languages shared by employees only acts to enrich the workplace and create a stronger bond within the team.

At the end of the day, everyone at LAO has a passion for games, and it is that passion that enables cultural differences and barriers to be transcended!

<The newly renovated interior of LAO> 

Do difficulties arise due to the physical distance and time difference between Korea (AYO) and Los Angeles (LAO)?  

LAO’s working hours are 10am-7pm, and since 6pm in LA is 10am in Korea, communications with AYO are often most active toward the end of the working day. Conversely, since morning in the United States is evening in AMO, those responsible for communicating with the Europe Team often begin work a little earlier, around 8 to 9am.

There are occassions where three-way meetings need to be held between Korea, Europe, and USA, but the differing time zones do make such meetings rather difficult to arrange. In these cases, meetings might be held after 10pm, or early in the morning. There can be challenges trying to come to mutual agreements amongst offices of differing nationality, as each office has it’s own cultural experiences and perspectives. As such, misunderstandings can sometimes arise regarding opinions, but by working in such a global work environment, those opinions are able to thrive with the benefit of such varied experiences.

What is LAO most proud of?

LAO is proud most of its driven and passionate team, whose support has seen us through the March 2019 XBox launch, August 2019 Playstation 4 launch, December 2019 Global Mobile launch, Console Crossplay of March last year, and everything up to this year’s transition to providing PC services in North America and Europe. You would be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated and hard-working team than this one!

Before the COVID pandemic, the team spent a lot of time together outside of their busy work schedules and would often order Korean food to the company to eat together, host corporate dinners, Halloween parties, or decorate the office in time for the Christmas festivities. However, the current pandemic has resulted in a shift to social distancing and working remotely, and the team are sad to report that they are still wary of holding group dinners.

< 2019 Halloween Party >

Another pride of the LAO is their strong stance on a operating a pet-friendly office! Several guidelines have been created to ensure that no one at the office is inconvenienced in any way by the pets, but fortunately, everyone at LAO seems to have a fondness for dogs, and several have even come to work to lend a hand… or paw (some dogs even work harder then their humans do!). 😊

Their main tasks are to help create a friendly atmosphere at the office, and to be the smiling face that greets guests as they arrive, emotionally comfort employees, and befriend those taking a break from their duties.

< Dogs of LAO – In participation of all meetings but before long, they doze off Zzz... >