Crimson Desert has sold over 3 million copies in less than a week since its release. After a six-plus-year wait and some questions over its console performance, Pearl Abyss’ medieval action-adventure faced both excitement and skepticism leading up to its launch. While things got off to a bit of a shaky start, Crimson Desert has seemingly rebounded and is now soaring through the sales charts.
Critics did not love Crimson Desert as much as Pearl Abyss and its investors had hoped, causing the developer’s stock to drop sharply right before release day. Those good-but-not-great reviews did not hinder gamers, though, as Crimson Desert passed 2 million copies sold in its first day on the market. Still, not everything was so positive, with many users finding the game’s controls and UI too obtrusive to fully enjoy the massive world. To Pearl Abyss’ credit, the developer has responded and is already at work rolling out patches, and players keep flocking to the game in the meantime.
Crimson Desert Launches to Impressive Player Counts but Mixed Reviews
The much-anticipated Crimson Desert draws an impressive number of players but less-than-stellar reviews in its first day on Steam.
Crimson Desert Sells Over 3 Million Copies in One Week
On March 24, Pearl Abyss announced that Crimson Desert had passed the 3 million units sold mark. It’s a noteworthy milestone in any context, but more impressively, the game managed to reach it in just five days after release. For context, Borderlands 4 passed 2.5 million copies sold in roughly 10 days, so Crimson Desert has outpaced Gearbox’s latest looter shooter so far, and it did it without the name recognition of a long-running franchise. That’s not to say that all is well for Pearl Abyss right now, as the game still faces plenty of criticism, but the game’s early success despite that negative feedback could be a sign that disappointing initial reviews were not enough to doom Crimson Desert from the start.
Climbing sales figures are not the only thing trending in the right direction for the open-world title. After launching to mixed impressions, Crimson Desert‘s Steam reviews are now mostly positive on Steam. That shift could simply be the result of a larger sample size as more people have played the game, but it may also be a testament to the devs work on it since launch. Crimson Desert started receiving updates right out of the gate, and while that’s par for the course for games today, Pearl Abyss has been vocal about recognizing fans’ biggest complaints and working to resolve them. There’s still a long way to go, but it’s possible that the promise of ongoing optimization is keeping players interested despite the game’s rocky start.
One look at the replies under Pearl Abyss’ tweet about Crimson Desert‘s sales will reveal that many players still have major complaints about the game. That said, devs have already begun work on some of its most publicized shortcomings. On March 22, Crimson Desert rolled out a patch to improve its controls, which many users heavily criticized at launch. It’s too early to say whether this change will have a major impact on the game’s perception going forward, but it could at least contribute to ongoing sales and increasingly positive reviews. Additional tweaks and fixes are certain to come in the future, too.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
Crimson Desert has not yet been out for a full week, so there’s no telling how it will be remembered down the line. Pearl Abyss seems to be committed to bringing things up to player expectations, but that may also be an uphill battle. Of course, many games throughout history have recovered from far more disastrous launches, and already selling 3 million copies is a good sign for the developer. While Crimson Desert may not be in the GOTY conversation after its disappointing start, things could be turning around for the game.
- Released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
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Pearl Abyss
