Pearl Abyss has confirmed that Crimson Desert will not be released in late 2025, with a new release now expected in early 2026. The game was first revealed back in 2020 with an initial release year of 2021, before getting delayed in August 2021. The news came from an earnings call (via Gematsu). It was less than a year ago when Pearl Abyss released the below trailer giving the late 2025 release window.
In the earnings call, Pearl Abyss said, “Currently, Crimson Desert has been in the process of voice-overs, while also carrying out tasks such as console certification in preparation for its release. In the case of marketing, we plan to participate in Gamescom and PAX West this August to showcase our open-world build. And in September, we will join the Tokyo Game Show to strengthen our marketing efforts in the Japanese market. The launch of Crimson Desert, our first large-scale AAA console game, has been unavoidably delayed by one quarter, from the previously announced schedule. This is due to longer than expected timelines arising from schedule coordination and collaborations with multiple partners for offline distribution, voice-overs, console certification, and other launch preparations. We sincerely apologize for not being able to meet the originally promised fourth quarter launch schedule. Please kindly understand that this is a strategic decision aimed at insuring success on a meaningful scale.
The release date has been internally confirmed for Q1 2026. However, given the change in launch timing, we will announce the date at a more appropriate time based on business considerations, rather than making an announcement at Gamescom next week. We are grateful for your continued interest in our company, and we will do our utmost to deliver an even better experience going forward.”
Battling four bosses in Crimson Desert reveals a game that’s full of surprises
In our preview of Crimson Desert, Stefan said, “We only had around an hour to make our way through these boss fights, and didn’t get to see the wider open world, but I’m already impressed by what I saw. There’s a great deal of variation between these four encounters, the combat mechanics have plenty of depths to master, the visuals look great, and that’s all before the promise of the huge open world outside of these moments. Sure, it’s a bit of a hodge podge of ideas, but if you embrace that, then Crimson Desert is absolutely one to keep an eye on as it heads to release later this year”
Source: Gematsu
