Pearl Abyss announced during its Q2 2025 earnings conference call that Crimson Desert will not come out in 2025. Instead, the team now targets to release the game sometime in Q1 2026.
As Pearl Abyss stated:
“The launch of Crimson Desert, our first large-scale AAA console game, has been unavoidably delayed by one quarter, from the previously announced schedule. This is due to longer than expected timelines arising from schedule coordination and collaborations with multiple partners for offline distribution, voice-overs, console certification, and other launch preparations. We sincerely apologize for not being able to meet the originally promised fourth quarter launch schedule. Please kindly understand that this is a strategic decision aimed at insuring success on a meaningful scale.
The release date has been internally confirmed for Q1 2026. However, given the change in launch timing, we will announce the date at a more appropriate time based on business considerations, rather than making an announcement at Gamescom next week. We are grateful for your continued interest in our company, and we will do our utmost to deliver an even better experience going forward.”
Crimson Desert started as an open-world MMORPG. During development, though, Pearl Abyss pivoted and made it a single-player game. And, to be honest, I’m glad it’s no longer an MMORPG.
The biggest feature of Crimson Desert is its combat system. From what I have seen, the game is more action-oriented and more forgiving than Dark Souls/Elden Ring. So, this should be good news to those who want something more than a Dark Souls clone.
What’s really great here is that Crimson Desert is shaping up to be something amazing. Its recent previews were positive across the board. Everyone who got hands-on with it was also impressed by its combat. So, I don’t really mind this delay. If the extra time helps the devs make the game even better, then it will be worth it
It’s also worth noting that the PC version is shaping up to be really optimized. Those who have tried it did not experience any stutters. Plus, there are some cool tech features that the devs have implemented.
For instance, it will have realistic water effects thanks to FFT Ocean simulation and Shallow Water simulation. These will enable realistic waves, currents, and ripples. The game will also have Ray Tracing effects. From what I could see in a recent video, we’ll most likely get RTGI and RT shadows.
Crimson Desert will also have Volumetric Fog with fluid simulation, as well as GPU-based cloth and hair simulation. Players will also be able to interact with the vegetation/grass. Plus, there will be some cool wind effects.
Finally, the game will support DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Gen at launch. Oh, and you can find its official PC requirements here.
Stay tuned for more!
