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  1. Games
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  3. Crimson Desert

As Crimson Desert hits 2 million copies sold, Pearl Abyss vows to "make improvements quickly" to remedy mixed reviews

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By Dustin Bailey published 20 March 2026

"We will listen closely to the wide range of feedback shared by the community and work to make improvements quickly"

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Crimson Desert
(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)
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Crimson Desert has landed to a mixed reception – but some serious sales numbers. Developer Pearl Abyss has confirmed that the open-world adventure has sold 2 million copies, and the studio vows expedient improvements to address the issues players are having.

"We are incredibly humbled to share that Crimson Desert has sold through 2 million copies worldwide," the game's official account shares on Twitter. "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 million copies mark an impressive debut for Crimson Desert, especially considering the mixed reception it's gotten on day one. Its Metacritic score sits at a 78, which is somehow low enough to sink Pearl Abyss's share price. Steam reviews have been at an even lower 'Mixed' average, citing a "bland" story and "ridiculously bad" controls.

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  • Crimson Desert: Cliff Macduff looking out into the distance during the new game, Crimson Desert. Crimson Desert celebrates selling "over 5 million copies worldwide" less than 4 weeks after launch

Of course, a substantial number of those copies sold likely came before the critical and public response started to roll in, in the form of pre-orders. Still, it's good to know the devs are proactively taking steps to address the criticism, as evidenced by the swath of day one and early patches that have already landed to fix various problems.

As Joel writes in our Crimson Desert review, it's a "messy" game, "but as you untangle its mechanics and compensate for its flaws, elements of genius and wonder make the experience worthwhile." Here's hoping the patches to come make those flaws a little less pervasive.

Check out our guides to Crimson Desert skills or Crimson Desert weapons if you're looking to get your build right.

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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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