Despite us being almost two weeks out from the Crimson Desert launch, players are still figuring out how massive the game is, with some having not even left the first region.
Crimson Desert is doing super well so far with the game selling three million copies in five days and fans raving about it online. But it also seems to be literally, overwhelmingly massive. Pre-release, many were wondering how the developers at Pearl Abyss would pull it off, considering the sheer amount of stuff that seems to be included in the title, on top of a huge world to roam around. But they were wrong – some of those who are really into it still haven't seen most of the game, from the looks of things.
Over on Reddit, one player says, "I'm 136 hours in the game so far and STILL haven't left Hernand," and despite their claim – which works out to an estimated 13 hours a day since launch, and thus, could maybe be a joke – demonstrating some wild dedication to the game, the first Crimson Desert area is certainly big enough to hang about in for a while. Elsewhere on the game's subreddit, players joke about the titular "Crimson Desert," since they've spent so much time in Hernand instead, with one post reading, "Hey look at this red desert. I wonder if they will add it into an expansion. I am loving Hernand!"
Show of hands, who's still in the first region? pic.twitter.com/vDwvYKcHRLMarch 30, 2026
These memes have even reached the game's PR director Will Powers, who posted an edited piece of boxart that reads "Hernand," commenting, "Show of hands, who's still in the first region?"
While this shows an impressive amount of game content in Hernand, it also makes me more reluctant to play Crimson Desert, knowing there's no way I can finish it as someone who is easily distracted in open-world titles (I still haven't finished Shadow of the Erdtree).
At the very least, I definitely won't be finishing it before GTA 6, which I imagine will be similarly massive – and that's assuming Rockstar delays it even further.
