Speculation has been rife ever since the debut gameplay trailer for Pearl Abyss' upcoming single-player RPG Crimson Desert released in 2020. What is Tears of the Witcher 3 Rockstar Medieval Open-World RPG? I've seen clips of Cliff (the main character) riding a bear, turning into a spectral crow made of smoke, falling from the sky into a huge open world, and fighting a giant rock turtle covered in glowing gems. I've also played the game and been to several preview events, and I'm still clueless about most of its basics.
I first saw the game at Gamescom 2023, behind closed doors and under a strict NDA. I remember walking out of the preview session feeling a little shocked: it was one of the most 'next-gen' games I'd ever seen, and I had no idea it existed until I said hello to the dev team, excited to show them what they were doing.
I even got a chance to play it at Gamescom 2024 the following year, where I first met the bosses featured in the trailers. A year later again, I finally managed to beat those same bosses at another event. My experience of the game so far has been fragmented – playing through structured sections curated by the development team. I haven't been allowed to walk around and explore the open world Pywel of the Crimson Desert, and I think that will make or break whether the game is truly great. Although we know more about the game now, there is still a lot left unsaid.
I was half expecting to see more gameplay in TGA 2025, but Crimson Desert was conspicuously missing from affairs. There was no new trailer, and the game did not feature in the most anticipated category. The game didn't even feature in The Guardian's Most Anticipated Games of 2026, although it came in at number nine on Polygon's list. The most we've seen from the game in the past six months has been a series of IGN gameplay previews in October 2025 that showed some unseen parts of Crimson Desert, including a boss fight with a giant dragon. Although these videos drew a lot of views, I still don't think the hype surrounding this game matches my own expectations.
Black Desert Pedigree
I've played Black Desert Online's previous game, Pearl Abyss, for over 200 hours, but it's really a rookie number when it comes to a sprawling MMO. Now over a decade old, the MMO has a vast array of life skills that essentially have endless play time. One of my old guildies from back in the day has spent over 3,000 hours breeding horses. I see him online every day, and even though we haven't spoken in years, I know he's still there, taming horses. It's a sandbox MMO that can be played forever.
I don't know how Crimson Desert is a real game
The Crimson Desert feels like something from the future.
While Pearl Abyss is very clear that Crimson Desert is not an MMO, and is not directly connected to Black Desert, there are some clear threads of unity between the two titles: the art style, combat, and life skills on display (such as fishing) suggest more than a slight draw from an MMO – it was originally meant to be played as a game. There will be an MMO and post-launch multiplayer additions, but for now it's strictly a single-player experience.
What excites me the most is what Crimson Desert can be. Rather than this disjointed series of boss fights and cutscenes I've seen so far, Pywel's world will be filled with activities and mini-games that make the world feel alive. At least, I hope it will: even some early dev interviews suggest this may be the case. One of the earliest bits of press about Crimson Desert came from Seongwoo Lee, the game's lead producer, who said that every NPC in Pywel “will serve a purpose.”
While I'm not expecting Rockstar levels of detail – and Crimson Desert will go head-to-head with GTA 6 this year, if both games release on schedule – I expect the game to deliver more than what we've seen in the trailers.
2026 is not an easy year to stand out
The fact that Crimson Desert is flying a little under the radar is that 2026 looks like an incredibly stacked year for video games: Grand Theft Auto 6, Tides of Annihilation, Resident Evil: Requiem, 007 First Light, Forza Horizon 6, Pokemon Pokopia, The Blood Skopia, 2026 Chrono Odyssey, and Control: Resonant, are all set to release this year, and there are many more. Probably too many to list here, however we have a bunch of the most anticipated games of 2026 listed here at TheGamer.
No matter what your genre, there seems to be one paramount title to be released this year. Where does Crimson Desert fit into this? I have absolutely no idea. It looks like its own beast, and we can only judge it after playing it. I still believe it has the power to surprise everyone when (if) it releases in March.
Crimson Desert
- issued
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, drug references, intense violence, strong language
- developer(s)
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The Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
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The Pearl Abyss
- Number of players
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single player
