Crimson Desert won't be out in 2025: developers from Pearl Abyss have once again postponed the game's release

The release of the ambitious action-RPG Crimson Desert has been repeatedly postponed and the last announced deadline was the end of 2025. However, the Korean studio Pearl Abyss has announced that this deadline will not be the final one either.

Here's What We Know

At Pearl Abyss' Q2 2025 financial success conference, the company informed investors that Crimson Desert's release has been pushed back to early 2026.

We would like to talk about the development status and release schedule of Crimson Desert. Crimson Desert is currently going through the voice-over phase as well as certification for consoles in preparation for release. In terms of marketing, we plan to attend gamescom and PAX West in August to showcase our open world. In September, we will also attend Tokyo Game Show and activate an advertising campaign in the Japanese market.

Unfortunately, the release of Crimson Desert, our first large-scale AAA game, is delayed by one quarter from the previously announced schedule. This is due to the longer than expected timeline required to coordinate the schedule and collaborate with several partners on offline distribution, voice acting, console certification and other aspects of pre-release preparation. We sincerely apologise for not being able to meet the originally announced launch window. Please understand that this is a strategic decision to ensure meaningful success.

The exit window was approved internally for the first quarter of 2026. However, given the change in launch timeline and based on business considerations, we will announce the exact date at a more appropriate time rather than at gamescom. We appreciate your continued interest in our company and will do everything we can to ensure you enjoy the game.

Flashback

Crimson Desert is a gloomy role-playing game, which was supposed to be a spin-off of the popular MMORPG Black Desert, but eventually turned into an independent single-player project.

The novelty is characterised by excellent graphics, dynamic combat system, huge open world with a lot of picturesque locations and unique enemies and exciting quests.

In terms of gameplay, the Korean action game is extremely similar to many popular modern games, including The Witcher 3, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Elden Ring, Final Fantasy XVI, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Dragon's Dogma 2.

Crimson Desert will be available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, and the leak revealed that the game will also be coming to Nintendo Switch 2.

Source: Pearl Abyss