Crimson Desert boss admits its story needs work, but it can't be fixed now so future updates will only focus on gameplay

Crimson Desert studio CEO Heo Jin-young agrees with shareholders in thinking the open-world game's narrative needs… help, but developer Pearl Abyss seems to have plans to only improve gameplay issues in future updates.

Heo addressed shareholders at a March 27 meeting reported by South Korean news site Yonhap News Agency, and apparently translated into English by a fan. In addition to listing Crimson Desert's big milestones since launching on March 19 – the open-world game's sales have already crossed three million copies, and it surpassed 240,000 concurrent players on its best day – Heo is honest about its narrative shortcomings.

Crimson Desert is RPG Mad Libs – the opposing Pailune factions have made the continent of Pywel dangerous, and main character Kliff must restore the glory of his Greymanes tribe after it was shattered by the rival Black Bears. And so on. Shareholders aren't moved by it, and they complain to Heo that Crimson Desert's "storyline is lacking," according to both fan and machine translators.

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Pearl Abyss apparently shares these feelings about Crimson Desert "to some extent," Heo replies, and its developers regret not fleshing it out further. The CEO describes a rush to complete the game, which was first announced in 2019 ("too early," according to marketing director Will Powers). He explains Pearl Abyss attempted to cram as much compelling narrative into their game as possible during a tight development period, but polishing gameplay was always its priority.

Similarly, going forward, Heo promises gameplay patches based on player feedback, but he doesn't mention any fresh narrative possibilities for poor Kliff.

Check out our Crimson Desert review to find out if it's worth picking up amid all the other new games for 2026.