Crimson Desert dev: critics didn’t spend enough time exploring its world to judge the game fairly

Crimson Desert’s Metacritic score currently sits at 77 based on 120 critic reviews, but seven months after launch, the game’s publisher says the rating doesn’t fully reflect the game’s broader exploration and world-building because reviewers didn't spend enough time with it.

This comes from Lybee Park, CEO of Pearl Abyss Europe, who discussed the matter in an interview with The Game Business and pointed to the available playtime and review build. Park said:

“Critics had to play a build that was not the exact same version as the launch game. They also had limited time. Usually, the classic approach when reviewing a game is to follow the main story. But our unique charm is spread across our in-game world, including all those hidden, tiny details. I am not sure critics had a fair chance to explore those during the review period.”

With six million sales under its belt, Crimson Desert has proven to be a hit as a brand-new IP from Pearl Abyss. However, Park’s comments likely focus more on the conditions under which the game was reviewed than on its launch quality.

The game’s review build was shipped ahead of the embargo, which lifted on March 18, and Pearl Abyss shipped its first day-one patch, 1.00.002, on March 19. The patch notes specifically listed a tutorial quest for Abyss Gears toward the beginning of Chapter 3, along with fixes for stalled quests and QTEs that ramped up in difficulty with each capture.

Still, the overall Metascore is not particularly hostile, as Crimson Desert earned 84 positive reviews, 30 mixed reviews, and one negative review. Reviews aside, Pearl Abyss’s revenue and earnings point elsewhere, as the game sold six million copies in under three months.

Pearl Abyss has been rolling out updates since launch and fixed its clunky control scheme in patches 1.04 and 1.09. These updates added full custom controller remapping, allowing players to tweak their inputs, along with PC hotkeys.

Months later, in August, Pearl Abyss also announced it was working on a Nintendo Switch 2 port of the game, slated to launch in the first half of 2027. According to Pearl Abyss:

“For platform expansion, the core focus is ensuring that Crimson Desert’s signature graphics, action, and open-world exploration are fully preserved, rather than executing a simple port.” That explains why Pearl Abyss is taking its time with the Switch 2 port. For the record, Crimson Desert is currently playable on the Switch 2. Pearl Abyss continued:

“In the case of the Switch 2, the game has reached a playable baseline, and we are currently conducting technical reviews regarding performance optimization and quality standard compliance, targeting release in the first half of next year.”

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