The long-awaited, highly anticipated grand fantasy adventure game Crimson Desert is finally here, and across Xbox, Windows PC, Mac, and PS5, it’s rapidly become one of the most-played games right now. On launch day, it managed a peak concurrent player count of 239,045 on Steam, which is very impressive for a single player title, albeit not terribly surprising given the monumental hype behind this one.
However, the game hasn’t come without some controversies. Its reviews and Metacritic score ended up being more divisive than most were expecting, and on Steam, Crimson Desert has opened to “Mixed” reviews. Indeed, at the time of writing, only 69% of the title’s 6,850 user reviews are positive. I’d say “nice,” but, you know…it could certainly be nicer (Windows Central reviewed Crimson Desert, also).
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We are incredibly humbled to share that #CrimsonDesert has sold through 2 million copies worldwide. Thank you so much to our fans, community, and everyone who has joined us in Pywel. We will listen closely to the wide range of feedback shared by the community and work to make… pic.twitter.com/AivMESKWpuMarch 20, 2026
But what areas of Crimson Desert do the devs actually need to make improvements in? Well, by far, the most consistent and frequent complaint is that the game’s controls are incredibly janky, at least on controller. Both the button layout itself — you can’t change it, unfortunately — and the dizzying number of button combos the combat system expects you to memorize have led to a confusing and frustrating experience for many. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about the high acceleration of basic movement, too.
In general, it seems like Crimson Desert as a whole could do with some streamlining, with many of its moment-to-moment mechanics requiring an unnecessary amount of inputs or digging into menus. Players have also voiced the impression that the game tries to do too much with all of its various gameplay pillars, and as a result, does none of it particularly well.
These are the kinds of things that can be improved with updates and patches, along with performance issues and technical bugs (especially on console). Some divisive elements more likely to remain the way they are, though, include the game’s story, its side quests, and the MMO-style gathering, crafting, and cooking grind you have to do in preparation for tougher encounters.
Despite how baked into the experience it is, I could see the latter’s importance being lessened over time. But the story and side quests — criticized by many for feeling devoid of meaningful character and featuring bland, simple objectives — are the kind of thing that would require extensive and fundamental changes. If those do come, it won’t be soon.
Still, it is good to see Pearl Abyss vow to improve things and fix issues. Crimson Desert is available across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Mac, and PS5 for $69.99 if you’d like to play it yourself, with the PC version on sale for $64.99 at Loaded.
🗨️ Are you playing Crimson Desert?
Now that Crimson Desert is finally out and it’s getting a “Mixed” reception from critics and players alike, I’d like to know: are you playing the game? Have reviews influenced your decision to buy (or not buy) it? Are you planning on getting it during a big sale if you’re holding off at launch?
Let me know in the comments, and be sure to vote in our poll as well!
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