Crimson Desert will be slowing down its free updates in preparation for its paid DLC, and I'm just glad Pearl Abyss is finally pacing itself
Overview & Key Takeaways
Free stuff is great, but it's reasonable to get paid at some point.
You've got to give Crimson Desert kudos—it's been getting hit with free update after free update, including, most recently, an overhaul to the game's story. But that'll be slowing down in coming months, as Pearl Abyss gears up to release the game's first major paid piece of DLC content.
"While there still will be updates," says director of marketing and PR Will Powers in an interview with IGN at Gamescom 2026, "I don't think the scope and scale and pace of them will be as consistent past this point. What we're taking this opportunity to do is shift our development resources from these regular updates to focus on the upcoming DLC."
And you know what? Good. Crimson Desert was already a systems-heavy game at launch with an absurd amount of stuff to do—but just look at what's been added already. 20(!) small critters, a shotgun, a ton of different chest types, difficulty options, new animal mounts and inventory management, the ability to have your own hoard of pets, boss rematches and legendary creatures. Birdwatching? Why not, put it on there.
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This game is an everything bagel that has only had more everything bagel seasoning heaped on top. It is a glorious leaning tower of mechanics that somehow hasn't collapsed under its own weight. It is a monument to game development hubris and as much as I respect Pearl Abyss' energy and commitment, I think it's probably for the best that it slows down.
Not too slow, though. As Powers confirms, the paid DLC will still be aiming for a release sometime in the final quarter of this year, which is wild to me. I wouldn't have even blinked if Pearl Abyss decided it was coming later, but no—the Kliff train stops for no-one.
By the time the studio finally puts Crimson Desert down, it's going to be a mammoth of a videogame. This thing takes around 250 hours to complete, baseline. I suspect that by 2036, Crimson Desert will have created infinite energy, cured every illness in existence, and given Kliff a railgun or something.
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