Crimson Desert is easily one of the most ambitious upcoming PS5 and Xbox games I’ve seen, and after a long delay it looks like developer Pearl Abyss is finally ready to show more of its MMO-turned-single-player-RPG at Gamescom this August. Bolstering hopes for a potential 2025 release, Crimson Desert is now entering the “last stages” of its development, with the game’s marketing set to ramp up over the coming months.
Pearl Abyss gave this promising update as part of its most recent earnings call. The “last stages” revolve around fully optimizing the RPG game, with the scope to prepare a proper demo that’ll be playable at Gamescom. Pearl Abyss also says it’s planning to make an appearance at Korea’s GStar event in November. As part of the game’s marketing roadshow, more details on its launch timeline, including pre-registration info, will gradually be shared, presumably between now and GStar 2024.
Though there’s no confirmation of when exactly the Crimson Desert release date will be, an educated guess based on these latest snippets of information would place it on consoles in the first half of next year – at least, that’s what I expect. Though it’s easy to be cynical toward any sort of possible release window considering its lengthy pushback and relative lack of footage, the fact that Pearl Abyss is so confident in moving forward with its marketing, as well as that all-important Gamescom demo, fills me with hope.
Having started life as an MMO, Crimson Desert was revealed at The Game Awards 2020. However, the new PS5 game and new Xbox game wouldn’t stay that way for long, and was reworked into an open-world game with multiplayer elements in 2021. Though it was never made entirely clear what the multiplayer game side of it would look like, based on this early dev interview with This Is Game, it sounds like it’ll be instance-based in the same vein as something like HoYoverse’s Genshin Impact.
After disappearing for a hot minute, Crimson Desert last year resurfaced with a brand new gameplay trailer at Gamescom, which you can see above. From the sheer variety of combat systems alone, it’s shaping up to be quite the experience. If Pearl Abyss has been able to deliver on its bold vision, then I won’t be surprised if it becomes a big Game of the Year contender (praying for 2025). For now, though, we’ll have to see if it passes the litmus test at Gamescom.
For more of the latest news on the best PS5 games and best Xbox games in the world of RPGs, check out why Square Enix’s new strategy is the key to more Final Fantasy on Xbox. Before you go, don’t forget to drop us a follow on Google News to stay up to date with all things Crimson Desert as we head towards Gamescom and beyond.