Crimson Desert debuts with record numbers on Steam, but divides the gaming community

Pearl Abyss’s new title, Crimson Desert, has finally arrived on PC and consoles. With its release, the first player reviews of this highly anticipated game are beginning to surface, and opinions have been clearly divided since its launch.

A sales success, but with mixed reviews

Crimson Desert has established itself as an early hit on PC. On Steam, the game reached a peak of 239,045 concurrent players, making it the third most-played title on the platform, trailing only Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2. The figure is significant and points to a strong commercial launch for the South Korean studio. However, this performance has not automatically translated into a positive reception from the entire community.

For now, the game’s reviews on Steam remain in the “Mixed” category. While many players have praised the visuals and combat system, a significant portion of the criticism centers on the controls and movement. Some users note that exploration and interaction feel sluggish, and they also mention that the system for interacting with NPCs is not very intuitive. Specifically, they criticize the need to use one shoulder button to aim and another to start a conversation, which some feel disrupts the flow of the game.

In response to these complaints, Will Powers, Pearl Abyss’s Director of Public Relations and Marketing, commented on social media that Crimson Desert’s controls are comparable to “learning to ride a bike,” suggesting that it is an experience players will adapt to over time.

In their review, our colleagues in Spain note that Crimson Desert seems to like a video game with tremendous potential, but that it hasn’t quite reached the level of the top titles yet. They think it does a wonderful job of conveying a sense of adventure, and loved the epic feel of its battles, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a rather clunky game, full of uninteresting “errand” missions.

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