South Korean PM Comments on Crimson Desert

The Prime Minister of South Korea has heaped praise on Crimson Desert and commended Pearl Abyss for massively boosting the nation’s video game industry. The head of the state Offered in response to yet another Crimson Desert commercial milestone

Pearl Abyss’s open-world action adventure hit the digital and physical store shelves on March 19. By the 20th, Crimson Desert had already surpassed 2 million sales, thus immediately establishing itself as one of the biggest success stories of 2026 so far. Pearl Abyss largely managed to maintain that momentum in the five weeks since then, averaging 1 million additional sales per week. According to the studio’s latest update, Crimson Desert sold north of 5 million copies as of April 15.

Crimson Desert Fans Have New Free Download to Claim on Steam

Crimson Desert fans can claim a free download for the game right now on Steam.

South Korean PM Praises Crimson Desert as a Turning Point for K-Gaming

In the latest testament to this snowballing momentum, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has heaped praise on the game, as well as Pearl Abyss itself. Taking to X on April 24, Kim publicly admired Crimson Desert‘s latest sales milestone, while positing that the hit open-world game represents an important turning point for Korea’s domestic games industry and its ability to expand across platforms including consoles.

South Korea’s PM Pledges to Support Domestic Game Industry

Kim’s social media post went beyond a routine congratulatory message. The prime minister said that Crimson Desert‘s excellence relative to the rest of South Korea’s games industry had helped elevate the sector on the global stage, citing Pearl Abyss’ proprietary technology, photorealistic visuals, and use of Korean cultural elements such as taekwondo and cuisine as signs that the title had opened what he called a new chapter for K-content. Encouraged by that success, Kim pledged to “take responsibility” for actively supporting the domestic games business and helping create conditions in which Korean games can develop into one of the main pillars of the country’s broader cultural exports, extending the significance of Crimson Desert beyond its sales performance alone.

The prime minister’s endorsement adds another layer to what was already an unusually strong early run for Pearl Abyss’ new intellectual property. In the broader market context, Crimson Desert is currently among the best-selling games of 2026, though it is not leading the global chart, as it’s been over a month since Resident Evil Requiem celebrated 6 million sales in mid-March. According to a late April update from game director Koshi Nakanishi, the survival horror game has since added another million units to its lifetime sales tally since then.

Guess the games from the emojis.

Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)

Pearl Abyss’ last meaningful Crimson Desert update arrived on April 24 with Hotfix 1.04.02, a day after Patch 1.04.00 added difficulty options, storage features, new pets, new skills, and controller presets. A clearer indication of the game’s near-term roadmap came in an April 9 developer update, when the company said it planned to roll out new content gradually from April through June, including boss rematches, re-blockading, expanded control customization, and other combat and quality-of-life features. That makes another substantial update in the coming weeks appear plausible, though Pearl Abyss has not announced a specific date for the next major content drop.