With Charting the Unknown scheduled to launch on October 29, Pearl Abyss is letting players know how to start the DLC content for Crimson Desert, though there are a couple of things to know. The constantly evolving journey of Crimson Desert continues to move forward, with its biggest post-launch release set to arrive this week with the highly anticipated Charting the Unknown DLC.
After an unfortunate delay to Crimson Desert‘s DLC, the wait is finally almost over. Even being less than a year old at this point, 2026 has been an incredibly impressive year for the open world title, gaining tons of momentum thanks to positive word of mouth, even when initial reviews were lower than many expected. However, thanks to players and Pearl Abyss continuing to release new updates nearly on a weekly basis for months, Crimson Desert has evolved into something better than it was at launch. New quality of life updates, features, and content have been added and now, a new expansion is nearly here.
How to Begin Crimson Desert’s DLC Content
While Crimson Desert is already a massive game, fans were hoping that Pearl Abyss would add more to the world and with Charting the Unknown, the studio certainly isn’t holding back. However, it’s worth noting that players won’t be able to just jump right into the new content as there are a couple of things that need to happen first. In a recent interview, Pearl Abyss’ Will Powers revealed that there are essentially two ways that players can begin the new content.
Guess the games from the emojis.
First, for those that are looking forward to experiencing the new story elements, Crimson Desert‘s main story will need to be completed in full. For some, this may be a tall task, as not only is Crimson Desert a massive game, but analytical data seems to indicate that most players have not rolled credits on the story to this point. In fact, as of this past August, the completion rates for Crimson Desert were stunningly low, with Steam sitting at 9.7%, Xbox at 13%, and PS5 having the highest story completion rate at 15.2%. Finishing the main story unlocks the special epilogue content for Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka, which showcases what these characters are doing after the main events.
In terms of experiencing all of the new content in Charting the Unknown, players will first need to establish the Greymane camp during Chapter 3 of the core game. This includes all the new features and content that Crimson Desert has shown off, from customizing and sailing a massive ship, exploring underwater with mechs and sea creatures, to building a home or fighting enemy factions on various islands. This DLC has plenty to do, so at least the requirements for exploring the new content aren’t quite so steep.
ALongside the premium DLC and tons of updates, Pearl Abyss impressed the fanbase by announcing a special Enhanced Edition update for Crimson Desert back in September. The massive free update not only combined all previous updates and patches, but continued to improve the game by simplifying character progression, adding new combat and movement skills, expanded voice-over support, and most importantly, added new story elements like cutscenes, improved pacing, boss backstories, and much more.
- Released
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October 29, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
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Pearl Abyss
