Crimson Desert Developer Shares Drop Nearly 30% After Disappointing Reviews

Pearl Abyss shares plunged on the morning of March 19 after Crimson Desert received mixed reviews from critics. The open-world medieval adventure was one of the most anticipated games of a stacked 2026, so expectations were high leading up to its much-delayed release date. Now, that day has come, and while Crimson Desert has gotten its fair share of praise, its criticism has proved enough to affect its developer.

In some ways, the long-awaited title was a hit before it even came out. By March 17, Crimson Desert had become the top-selling paid game on Steam, generating an estimated $20 million in revenue from Steam pre-orders alone. That’s twice as much as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and nearly 10 times more than Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 achieved at the same point in their respective release cycles. Such a strong response leading up to the release likely gave investors a lot of confidence, but now it seems things haven’t quite lived up to those expectations.

Crimson Desert Makes Controversial Change Just One Week Before Launch

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss makes a quiet change to the game’s PC version, sparking controversy just one week before launch.

Crimson Desert’s Positive but Uneven Reviews Drive Pearl Abyss Shares Down

According to a financial report from Seoul Economic Daily, Pearl Abyss shares were trading 28.96% lower on March 19 than where they closed on March 18. The paper claims this drop stems from “disappointing preview reviews” for Crimson Desert, which may seem unusual at first, considering much of the game’s feedback has been positive. At the time of writing, Pearl Abyss’ latest title is sitting at an 80 out of 100 on OpenCritic based on 48 critic reviews. However, Crimson Desert was delayed multiple times since its 2019 reveal, and the surrounding hype had been sky-high lately, so investors were likely hoping the game would blow people away after such a long and excited wait.

It’s also worth noting that Crimson Desert‘s early reviews span a wide gamut, with some critics giving it near-perfect scores and others calling it a three out of five. That discrepancy could play a big role in spooking investors who may not feel great about backing a potentially divisive game. There are some common themes among these reviews, with Crimson Desert getting praise for its vast world and impressive visuals but staggering with its UI and inconsistent gameplay. More reviews will come in with time, so it’s unclear if the game’s average will improve or fall from here, but for now, the feedback has been solid but not as positive as Pearl Abyss’ investors had hoped.

Balance the critic averages

Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)

How things may change for Pearl Abyss when players get their hands on the game is likewise uncertain. Pre-order figures show that fans are excited to try it out for themselves, and Crimson Desert reportedly doubles Skyrim‘s map size, so there will be a lot of content for players to dig into. That could give users the space to sink hours into the game, potentially helping it gain more traction and win back investors, but it’s impossible to predict how exactly things will go at this point in time. That said, it won’t take long before Crimson Desert‘s future becomes a little clearer.

Crimson Desert character holding an artifact.

Pearl Abyss will release Crimson Desert globally on March 19th at 10:00 PM UTC, or 3:00 PM Pacific Time and 6:00 PM Eastern. Once it goes live, user reviews are sure to follow shortly. Fans and critics don’t always align, so it’s possible player feedback will lift Crimson Desert and its developer out of this early slump, but the opposite could just as well happen. Many games bounce back from a rocky launch, too, so even if the title fails to impress at the start, it doesn’t mean it’s all over for Pearl Abyss and its latest effort.