Crimson Desert () is a 2026 action-adventure game developed and published by Pearl Abyss. Originally planned as a prequel to Black Desert Online, the game evolved into a standalone title during development. It was released for macOS, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on March 19, 2026. It received generally positive reviews and sold three million copies within the first week of release.
Crimson Desert is an action-adventure game set in the open-world fictional continent of Pywel, a high fantasy world affected by multiple conflicts and mysterious forces. Players initially control Kliff, a member of the Greymanes, as he navigates a landscape populated by rival factions and dangerous creatures. The game features a dynamic combat system powered by the proprietary BlackSpace Engine, combining combo attacks, environmental traversal, and magic. Players can engage in horseback combat, face large-scale bosses such as dragons, and utilize a wide array of weapons and abilities enhanced with elemental effects. Pywel's open world offers a variety of activities including fishing, cooking, crafting, and hunting, allowing players to engage with the world beyond battles. The developers intended the world to be seamless and immersive, encouraging exploration and interaction with its inhabitants and environments.
The narrative of Crimson Desert follows Kliff and his fellow GreymanesâÂÂOongka, Yann, and NairaâÂÂduring a period of conflict on the continent of Pywel. The fragile balance is disrupted by a devastating attack on the Greymanes by their sworn enemies and rival faction, the Black Bears. During the ensuing conflict, many members of the Greymanes are killed, and Kliff, along with the surviving members, are scattered. The story focuses on Kliff's journey to reunite with his comrades, rebuild the fallen Greymanes, and confront the Black Bears' leader, Myurdin.
The game was originally conceived as a prequel to Black Desert Online; however, during early development, Pearl Abyss gradually reimagined it as a single-player experience set in a separate universe and established as a distinct, non-continuous IP. The game has since been marketed as single-player only, with no plans for multiplayer integration. The Pearl Abyss team took inspiration from Sicily to build the game world; the goal was to study the historical architecture and unique natural landscapes to give depth to the continent of Pywel. In December 2020, after the release of the trailer at The Game Awards 2020, Pearl Abyss released commentary videos to explain the development of the game and their vision for it. The game uses an upgraded version of Black Desert Online proprietary game engine called BlackSpace Engine.
According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, Crimson Desert received "generally favorable reviews".
On March 20, 2026, Pearl Abyss announced that Crimson Desert had surpassed 2 million units sold within its first 24 hours. The game reached 3 million copies sold worldwide about four days after release.
Immediately after the game's release, many gamers and media outlets noted that Crimson Desert explicitly does not support Intel Arc GPUs. The titleâÂÂs developer, Pearl Abyss, suggests that affected users refund the game at the place of purchase. After the issue became publicized, Intel commented on the situation, stating that they had contacted Pearl Abyss multiple times and offered access to early hardware, software, and drivers, as well as help optimizing the game so it would support Intel's GPUs at launch. Intel also suggested contacting Pearl Abyss directly for details on their decision not to support Arc.
After initial backlash, Pearl Abyss changed FAQ page on game's web-site, stating that they are "working on compatibility and optimization support so that Crimson Desert can also be enjoyed on Intel Arc GPU systems". The developer also apologized "for any confusion our FAQ wording from several hours ago regarding playability on Intel Arc GPUs may have caused" and provided a patch which allowed the game to launch on some Intel Arc GPUs in an unoptimized state, with players mentioning frequent graphical issues and general instability. Pearl Abyss provided no information regarding when they will introduce full support for the platform.
Following the game's release, players identified several in-game assetsâÂÂspecifically paintings and signsâÂÂthat appeared to be created using generative AI. This led to criticism regarding Pearl Abyss's failure to disclose the use of AI on the game's Steam page, which requires such disclosures under Valve's content policies. In response, Pearl Abyss issued an apology for what it termed "oversights", stating that the assets were "unintentionally included" in the final release build. Pearl Abyss claimed that they used generative AI "as part of early-stage iteration" to "explore tone and atmosphere in the earlier phases of production". The studio announced it would conduct a "comprehensive audit" of the game's assets and pledged to replace any generative AI content with human-made artwork in a future update.