At the time of this writing, Crimson Desert has not even been out for a full 24 hours. It launched yesterday, on March 19, 2026, at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 10pm BT, but it didn't need the full 24 hours to hit its first sales milestone. Developer Pearl Abyss has already reported that Crimson Desert hit 2 million copies sold in its first day.
The studio shared the news on the game's official X (formerly Twitter), while including that it is "doing our utmost" to respond to player feedback, as these big launch sales come despite the fact that critical consensus is overall very mixed (though Wccftech's Francesco De Meo is one of the game's biggest supporters) and user reviews for the game on Steam so far remain 'Mixed.'
"We are incredibly humbled to share that Crimson Desert 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 improvements quickly, doing our utmost to make the journey ahead even more enjoyable for our players."
The game's day-one patch already addressed several bugs that reviewers had to deal with, even adding features like a fast-travel point to one of the game's main areas that was not there for the review period, so Pearl Abyss is already working to fix several issues.
Crimson Desert's varying critical consensus though already struck a blow to Pearl Abyss, as the company's stock price took a 30% dive when reviews were not glowing across the board. It remains on a downward track even now, though if the game's sales continue to be as strong as they have been in the game's first 24 hours of being live, then we could likely see the company bounce back in the coming weeks.
For more on Crimson Desert, you can check out Francesco De Meo's review-in-progress to hear why he was able to get blissfully lost in the world of Pywel. If you're starting your own journey in Pywel, then you should also check out our complete walkthrough and guides hub, where you'll find several guides to aid you in getting the hang of the game's combat, exploration, bosses, character progression, and more.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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