The new Crimson Desert action RPG from Pearl Abyss has officially become one of the main surprises of the season — the developers were able to reverse the skepticism of the audience and bring the project to the top of Steam. After a series of operational edits and content patches, the game showed great online growth, updating the historical maximum by tens of thousands of people. It’s one of the most talked—about comebacks in the industry right now.
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Crimson Desert surpassed Dying Light 2 in terms of online popularity on Steam
The Koreans from Pearl Abyss are doing well. A few days after the release, the situation in Crimson Desert changed dramatically: players appreciated the speed with which the studio fixes bugs. The result is obvious — the peak online on Steam has broken through the mark of 276,261 people. That was enough to leave behind the Polish hit Dying Light 2: Reloaded Edition, whose record stood at 274,983 players. The legendary The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — it has 287,411 simultaneous users — has not yet been reached, but the gap is closing rapidly. If the dynamics continue, the 300,000 mark will only be a matter of time.
Here’s what the current cross-section of the leaderboard looks like by the number of players:
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — 287,411 people (all—time record)
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Crimson Desert – 276,261 people (current peak)
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Dying Light 2: Reloaded Edition — 274,983 people
From the prequel Black Desert Online to a standalone RPG
It is worth recalling that Crimson Desert has gone through a thorny path. Initially, the large—scale open-world role-playing game was announced as a prequel to Black Desert Online, a popular MMORPG from the same Pearl Abyss. However, during the development process, the concept changed: the project turned into a completely independent story, focused on a fantasy plot and a dynamic combat system. The combination of realistic graphics and fierce battles is exactly what the audience needs in 2026. Despite the rough edges at the start, betting on “live” support and instant response to community feedback allowed the game to write its name into the history of the genre. It looks like we have a new centenarian on Steam listings.
It’s not just luck that’s behind this success, but Pearl Abyss‘ proven strategy, which has turned a troubled startup into an exemplary reputation-saving case.
Why Crimson Desert is Growing — Pearl Abyss Patches and Strategy
Three patches in a week and a half — chronology of updates
The speed with which Koreans are “sawing” updates is amazing — such a pace is almost abnormal for the AAA gaming industry. On the day of the release, patch 1.00.02 arrived: the vanshots from the bears were corrected, the Abyss Gears training was delivered, and even the skip cutscene was accelerated. Five days have passed and you will receive patch 1.00.03. The developers went through the difficulty of the bosses at the beginning of the game, added a warehouse at Howling Hill camp and turned over the keyboard and mouse controls. The final chord of March was the major update 1.01.00 dated March 30 — five new mounts and almost instant downloads with fast movement. Three major patches in a week and a half — Pearl Abyss is clearly serious.
Steam rating increased from 56 to 80 percent
This quickly affected sarafanka. At the start, the Steam rating was around 56% (“Mixed”), but by the end of March it had soared above 80% — the status of “Very positive” was earned with blood and sweat. Players massively change their shoes. Those who initially scribbled angry reviews, after 15-20 hours in the world of Pywel, return to correct the “thumbs down” to “up”. The main idea of the community is simple: Crimson Desert is a slow—start game that needs to be given time to open up. On Metacritic, the score froze at 78 points, but this is the case when the dry figures of critics do not reflect the real love of the audience. The user’s reception turned out to be much warmer.
From 300 to 400 hours of gameplay — the amount of RPG content
There’s so much content here that standard measures don’t work. One of the Western reviewers “killed” 205 hours in Pywel, but never saw even half of the map. According to preliminary estimates, it will take from 300 to 400 hours to completely clean up all activities and zones — a colossal figure for a single-player RPG. People just don’t have time to “run and forget.” For context: the plot of Black Desert Online takes about 100 hours, and a recognized benchmark like Skyrim usually fits in the range of 80 to 150 hours. Crimson Desert plays in a different league — it’s a real vacuum cleaner of free time.
Honest Marketing and the Neural Network scandal
We must not forget about the phenomenal marketing. Pearl Abyss abandoned empty promises in favor of the utmost honesty — and it worked. Public apologies for bugs, detailed patchnotes, and an instant reaction to the neural network scandal are captivating. When attentive gamers found AI assets in the game, the studio did not go on the defensive. On the contrary, they acknowledged the use of neural network textures, added a warning to the Steam page, and officially apologized. This transparency hits the target better than any CGI trailer. The community sees: they are heard. And he votes with his time.
