Crimson Desert is one of the big success stories in the world of video games in 2026. The massive, sprawling RPG just took home the award for PC Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards. It’s also an often-mentioned candidate for several The Game Awards categories, though those nominations are yet to be revealed.
Developers Pearl Abyss, however, have already had to apologize for AI usage in Crimson Desert once before. Now, according to their own latest earnings report, it seems they’re continuing to implement AI-related changes to their dev process.
Pearl Abyss Mentions AI Usage in Q3 Earnings Report
Pearl Abyss just posted its third-quarter earnings report for 2026, which gave us a glimpse into things like financials, future plans, and more for the Crimson Desert devs.
In a subheading titled “New Pipelines,” the company divulged its outlook on AI usage moving forward for future titles. Pearl Abyss says:
“Furthermore, while we previously validated game systems only after implementing them manually, we now utilize AI to rapidly validate diverse design concepts prior to actual implementation. This enables a more efficient allocation of development resources and enhances overall production speed. However, AI serves strictly as a tool to support concept validation and pipeline productivity, while the core gameplay experience and actual content creation remain fully driven by our development team.“
Notably, this passage in the earnings report does clarify that “content creation remain fully driven by our development team,” but does not change the admitted fact that AI does seem to be playing a large role for Pearl Abyss moving forward.
AI tools aren’t new, but in a modern gaming landscape where titles like Big Walk have been put on trial for their handling of the medium, this development philosophy from the Crimson Desert devs is intriguing.
It does seem that humans will have the final say on gameplay and content creation in future Pearl Abyss projects, but regardless, AI will continue to play a large role in the conceptualization phase along the way.
The Previous AI Controversy at Pearl Abyss
Earlier this year in March, it was discovered that Pearl Abyss used generative AI artwork in the launch version of Crimson Desert. What’s worse is that this usage of AI was not properly disclosed to Steam and was not noted on the listing page for the game.
These instances of AI artwork were supposed to be placeholders before being replaced by human creations, but Pearl Abyss had several assets slip through the cracks even so.
After an internal review and public apology for their prior AI scandal, it seems Pearl Abyss is pushing forward regardless, still leveraging AI for ideation and concept work in future games. We’ll have to see if anything else slips by quality control in forthcoming titles.
AI usage in creative spaces is clearly a hot topic everywhere. Is Pearl Abyss leveraging AI in development yet another canary in the coalmine for the industry at large, or just one specific example of a team leaning into the highly controversial tool?
- Related: Pearl Abyss Addresses Crimson Desert AI Art Scandal: ‘We Apologize For These Oversights’
How do you feel about Pearl Abyss’ outlook on AI in their development plans moving forward? Let us know in the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Ethan Krieger got started as a sports journalist covering the NBA, but video games have always been his main passion. Since then, he's edited and written for multiple gaming outlets,…
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