Crimson desert soars past 3 million copies in explosive launch
Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert is experiencing a meteoric rise, exceeding 3 million copies sold worldwide in just five days. The open-world action RPG, launched on March 19, hit 2 million units in its debut day, demonstrating an immediate and powerful market response.
Player feedback fuels update cycle
The game’s initial reception on Steam was initially marked as ‘mixed,’ largely due to player concerns about control schemes deemed clunky and complex. Performance issues, including visual artifacts on both PC and PS5, also surfaced early on. This sparked a wave of community-driven troubleshooting, with PS5 owners actively collaborating to identify and address the blurry visuals. The developer, Pearl Abyss, acknowledged the feedback and has been responding swiftly.
The company's stock price reflected this early turbulence, plummeting nearly 30% following initial review scores and dropping further by 9.78% the day after launch. Development reportedly cost around₩200 billion ($133 million) over seven years. However, a series of updates have begun to shift the narrative.
Recent patches have addressed the most pressing concerns. A day-one update focused specifically on keyboard and mouse controls, enhancing responsiveness. Beyond control tweaks, Pearl Abyss rolled out a substantial list of quality-of-life improvements, including the introduction of a storage box, difficulty adjustments, and expanded fast travel options. The impact is already visible in user reviews, which have climbed from ‘mixed’ to ‘mostly positive’ and now stand at ‘very positive’ in English.
The game’s current Metascore sits at 78, with a user score of 8.1 on Steam. The stock price has rebounded slightly, down 2.51% today.
The development team has been remarkably responsive to player requests, with discussions already underway regarding making the dragon mount more accessible. The level of detail incorporated into Crimson Desert is evident in player discoveries revealing intricate world-building. IGN's own review delves deeper into the game's strengths and weaknesses, alongside guides covering essential early-game strategies and optimal builds. Whether this momentum proves sustainable remains to be seen, but the initial response signals a potentially significant contender in the open-world RPG space.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].