TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 1,989
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
It launched to Mixed reviews, but it's talked players around.
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As an unrepentant lover of weird, obtuse RPGs, I've been pleased to see the critical consensus on Steam turning in Crimson Desert's favour—and it is an RPG, despite Pearl Abyss's baffling insistence that it is not.
When Crimson Desert launched last week, it was quickly inundated with reviews both positive and negative on Steam. Players seemed to love its incredible scope, but they found its dodgy controls and obtuse design eccentricities a deal breaker. Steam user reviews settled on Mixed.
None of this stopped players from gravitating towards it, though—unsurprising, given that this is 2026's first blockbuster open-world romp. Within 24 hours, Pearl Abyss was celebrating 2 million sales. The team wasn't content to rest on its laurels, though, and promised improvements.
A few days later, a patch added much needed camp storage and nerfed some annoying bosses. Pearl Abyss also acknowledged that players weren't vibing with the controls, adding that this would be addressed in another patch.
The reviews started to become more positive, too, as the game shed its Mixed rating. And they've continued to climb, quickly going from Mostly Positive to Very Positive—that's from an impressive 25,000 reviews. It's racking up those sales, too, with Pearl Abyss announcing it had hit the 3 million milestone yesterday.
We are grateful to share #CrimsonDesert has sold through 3 million copies worldwide. To everyone who has stepped into Pywel and shared this journey with us, thank you. Your feedback continues to help shape the experience, and we will keep working to make the journey ahead even… pic.twitter.com/8T26KzhQwmMarch 24, 2026
Pearl Abyss's tinkering has undoubtedly helped, but I suspect the increasing positivity would have happened regardless—albeit not as quickly. Dense, eccentric games don't tend to make great first impressions, outside of weirdos like me who love this shit. And I suspect the players who really vibed with it took the weekend to play around in Pywel before dropping their impressions on Steam.
None of this invalidates the many criticisms that have been flung its way, of course. Only this morning, a bunch of us were bemoaning the game's ridiculous quest design in PC Gamer's Slack—how Kliff just seems to know where to go and who to speak to without any context, leaving us playe...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
As an unrepentant lover of weird, obtuse RPGs, I've been pleased to see the critical consensus on Steam turning in Crimson Desert's favour—and it is an RPG, despite Pearl Abyss's baffling insistence that it is not.
When Crimson Desert launched last week, it was quickly inundated with reviews both positive and negative on Steam. Players seemed to love its incredible scope, but they found its dodgy controls and obtuse design eccentricities a deal breaker. Steam user reviews settled on Mixed.
None of this stopped players from gravitating towards it, though—unsurprising, given that this is 2026's first blockbuster open-world romp. Within 24 hours, Pearl Abyss was celebrating 2 million sales. The team wasn't content to rest on its laurels, though, and promised improvements.
A few days later, a patch added much needed camp storage and nerfed some annoying bosses. Pearl Abyss also acknowledged that players weren't vibing with the controls, adding that this would be addressed in another patch.
The reviews started to become more positive, too, as the game shed its Mixed rating. And they've continued to climb, quickly going from Mostly Positive to Very Positive—that's from an impressive 25,000 reviews. It's racking up those sales, too, with Pearl Abyss announcing it had hit the 3 million milestone yesterday.
We are grateful to share #CrimsonDesert has sold through 3 million copies worldwide. To everyone who has stepped into Pywel and shared this journey with us, thank you. Your feedback continues to help shape the experience, and we will keep working to make the journey ahead even… pic.twitter.com/8T26KzhQwmMarch 24, 2026
Pearl Abyss's tinkering has undoubtedly helped, but I suspect the increasing positivity would have happened regardless—albeit not as quickly. Dense, eccentric games don't tend to make great first impressions, outside of weirdos like me who love this shit. And I suspect the players who really vibed with it took the weekend to play around in Pywel before dropping their impressions on Steam.
None of this invalidates the many criticisms that have been flung its way, of course. Only this morning, a bunch of us were bemoaning the game's ridiculous quest design in PC Gamer's Slack—how Kliff just seems to know where to go and who to speak to without any context, leaving us playe...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?