Pearl Abyss PR and marketing director Will Powers says that Crimson Desert's near-constant slate of updates hasn't been a ploy to sell more copies, instead it's about celebrating the game's success.
Obviously, GTA 6 is the big new game for 2026 that has and will continue to dominate the conversation, but outside of that absolute behemoth, Crimson Desert has certainly felt like the game people have been most into (alongside Resident Evil Requiem, of course). The massive open-world game released back in March, and has become an impressive success, especially for a new IP, with it selling over five million copies within its first month. That's on top of the positive Crimson Desert reviews.
However, one thing that has definitely kept Crimson Desert in the conversation is how much support the devs have given it following its launch, with post-launch updates turning the game into a full-blown pet sim in the weeks since release, for example, and even some more out there additions like a pinball mini-game, which I'm not sure anyone was asking for, but it's a welcome addition.
Speaking to CGMag, Powers says: "A new IP selling five million copies in a month should be celebrated. There's too many layoffs and studio closures, and bad news that I think that we all could benefit from spending some time around the good news."
He adds that because of this impressive feat, "this should be a celebration in general, because Pearl Abyss isn't taking a victory lap in the sense of 'All right, how can we sell more?' It's 'How can we give more back to the community?'"
Powers explains: "Their approach post launch has been mostly around what we can do in order to reward the players that have been there from day one and continue to make the game this living breathing experience." Pearl Abyss has said you can expect more free updates as long as the playerbase is interested, but the developer is also working on a "substantively different" DLC alongside it.
Still playing? Check out how to make money fast in Crimson Desert and how to unlock all Crimson Desert characters.
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