Crimson Desert is utterly massive in scope, above and beyond even what's typical for open-world games. Some players are pouring in dozens of hours, and they're not outliers. New data suggests that players are averaging over 20 hours a week exploring Crimson Desert.
In the week ending March 28 – the first full week after launch – Crimson Desert players in the US averaged 20 hours of playtime on Xbox and 22 hours on PlayStation, according to Mat Piscatella of market analysis firm Circana. That makes it the number one game on Xbox in terms of average playtime, and number two on PlayStation behind the famously in-depth action-RPG, Path of Exile.
I know some of you will look at 20 hours of gaming in a week and think that's a rookie number, but remember, these are averages. Those 20 hours balance out between the no-lifing obsessives spending triple-digit hours in the game, the folks with life obligations who can only manage short gaming sessions, and everybody in between. With that caveat in mind, the average is extremely impressive.
For the week ending Mar 28, Crimson Desert ranked 1st on Xbox in weekly hours per US active user (20 hours per active user) and 2nd on PlayStation (22) behind only Path of Exile. Crimson Desert also moved into the top 20 in US total weekly active users across both console platforms. Great momentum.
— @matpiscatella.bsky.social (@matpiscatella.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T19:54:09.581Z
"Crimson Desert also moved into the top 20 in US total weekly active users across both console platforms," Piscatella continues. "Great momentum." More specifically, the game is number 14 on PlayStation and 18 on Xbox. Much of the top ten on both platforms is made up of live-service titles, according to another Circana chart.
Crimson Desert's length can top 200 hours if you truly want to do everything, so I'd expect those averages to stay pretty high for the foreseeable future – especially as more and more players pour in and start exploring.
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