Crimson Desert officially launched on March 19, 2026, across all platforms. It was a long-awaited launch since its first announcement by Pearl Abyss back in 2019. Although it started as a prequel to Black Desert Online, it later evolved to a massive stand-alone single-player game—and what a massive open world of exploration it has been!
“Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure set on the continent of Pywel,” read the official blurb. “Join Kliff on his journey to rebuild the Greymane faction and to save the land from a looming threat. From vast wilderness and cities to ruins and the mysterious Abyss, forge your path through battles and discovery.”
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Since its launch, there have been lots of talking points about Crimson Desert, both the pleasant and the not-so-pleasant. Here are all the records that the game has set since its launch.
#1. Sold 2 million copies in 24 hours
It makes sense to start with the sales details, since in recent times, poor sales have led to the closure of game studios or mass layoffs. In just 24 hours after its launch, the studio announced that the game had sold 2 million copies worldwide. Below is the official message shared by the studio on its social media platforms.
“We are incredibly humbled to share that #CrimsonDesert has sold through 2 million copies worldwide. Thank you so much to our fans, community, and everyone who has joined us in Pywel. We will listen closely to the wide range of feedback shared by the community and work to make improvements quickly, doing our utmost to make the journey ahead even more enjoyable for our players.”
#2. Attracted over 239,000 concurrent players on Steam
Although Steam concurrent player numbers don’t present an entire picture, some gamers often use it as a yardstick to determine a game’s popularity and potential financial success. At the time of writing, Crimson Desert had a peak concurrent player count of 239,045 and over 218,000 active players.
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While this is less than 50% of the concurrent player count pulled in by Slay the Spire 2 (574,638), it is over 270% more than Marathon (88,337). For contrast, Black Desert, the studio’s previous release before Crimson Desert, attracted only 60,395 concurrent players on Steam.
#3. Hit 78 metascore on Metacritic
Another important score that gamers look at when rating the commercial performance of a game is its metascore. Crimson Desert bagged 78 metascore on PC based on 102 critical reviews. At the time of writing, the scores for PS5 and Xbox Series X were yet to be decided.
The score is a step up from the 73 metascore recorded by Black Desert Online. For comparison, it is rated higher than some other big hits that have launched this year, including Marathon (76), Styx: Blades of Greed (76), John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando (72), Romeo is a Dead Man (72), and High on Life 2 (71).
Crimson Desert developer is working on a controller fix
One of the biggest challenges that players have complained about since the launch of Crimson Desert is how the controls don’t follow the norm, which makes it difficult for some players to progress. The developers have been listening and have now released a statement confirming they are working on a fix.
“It has been a little over 36 hours since launch, and we would like to start with a sincere thank you to everyone who has been playing Crimson Desert,” they announced on their social media platforms on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
“Since launch, we have been listening closely to your feedback and doing our best to make improvements to the game. In particular, we are aware of the discomfort many players have experienced with the controls, and we are currently preparing a patch to address this. We also want to apologize for not providing keyboard and mouse players with a satisfactory gameplay experience.”
Warriors exploring Pywel are encouraged to report any issue they have experienced when playing the game through the Crimson Desert report form.
If you have played Crimson Desert, tell us what you love most about the game. Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
