Pearl Abyss has just shared the news that Crimson Desert has sold five million copies since being released midway through March. The game, which drew somewhat mixed reviews at launch on account of some design flaws, has been patched up a few times in recent weeks, making it a much more polished product, pleasing fans.
The discourse around Crimson Desert remains divisive, with some claiming it’s a sure shot for Game of the Year awards, while others say that the world isn’t satisfying, the endgame loop isn’t there, and the story is hollow.
Crimson Desert’s Sales Continue to Fly
Crimson Desert has hit a new sales milestone, as confirmed earlier today by Pearl Abyss. The team posted a message on social media thanking gamers everywhere for their investment:
Crimson Desert has sold through over 5 million copies worldwide! Thank you to every Greymane who has joined us on this journey, experienced the world of Pywel, and supported the game. Reaching this milestone would not have been possible without your support and we are truly grateful.
In our Crimson Desert review, we gave the game a 7 out of 10, explaining that it has incredible scope and scale but an inconsistent delivery.
After some late reviews, Crimson Desert’s Metacritic rating dropped to 77, regarding it as ‘Generally Favorable’, with user scores floating slightly higher than critic scores. It wasn’t as high as some were expecting, but an argument has been made regarding that concept.
It has been said that, had Pearl Abyss released the post-launch fixes and improvements before the game came out, it would have felt like a more finished title when it dropped. This included elements like better fast travel, some UI improvements, better input mapping, and some difficulty balances.
Had the bulk of the reviews played that version of Crimson Desert, the game would have likely received better scores out of the gate.
Have you played Crimson Desert yet? Let us know what you think about the game on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Overwatch is suffering from performance issues on Switch 2
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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That seems small. I thought it did way better like 10 million or 15.