Crimson Desert is receiving excellent post-launch support. In the weeks after the game launched on PC and consoles, Pearl Abyss not only fixed some of the game's most glaring issues but also added new features quickly, including some highly requested by the community, such as the option for strongholds to be re-occupied by enemy factions, the ability to rematch against defeated bosses, an Extraction feature to roll back gear upgrades to get materials back, a tool equipment slot and controller remapping. This, according to Pearl Abyss PR Will Powers, was made possible by the developer not being stuck with a rigid roadmap, and not being ego-driven at all, open to all sorts of suggestions.
"Everything, patch-wise, content-wise, has been iterated in real time based on feedback, based on response," the Pearl Abyss PR said in a new interview with The Washington Post. "If you bake in a roadmap, you’re presuming. We are not baking in presumptions around what the players want."
Elaborating further, Powers made it clear how willing the Crimson Desert developer is to incorporate ideas from the community and even turn exploits into mechanics. "We’re not onerous about, if an idea didn’t come from us, then it can’t be in the game. I think that’s something that other companies are too ego-driven a lot of the time to be able to accept other people’s ideas. It’s almost Silicon Valley-esque. A good idea can come from anywhere."
With Pearl Abyss being "an indie publisher with a triple-A quality game," it's no surprise Crimson Desert has been receiving updates at a breakneck pace that is currently unmatched in the AAA space, which is not surprising, considering even before release, former developers said the game is on a completely different level than mass-produced Unreal Engine 5 games. And with the studio listening to players' feedback so much, you should definitely make your voice heard if there's something you want to see in the game (such as the removal of certain battle effects that clutter the screen when clarity matters most)
The excellent post-launch support is one of the reasons I am still enjoying Crimson Desert massively even after completing the main story, which is one of the game's flaws, if not the biggest. "While the narrative is thin and the controls complex, the incredible world density, sandbox mechanics, incredible combat and stunning visuals make Pywell a continent worth visiting for anyone looking for an experience to lose themselves in for hundreds of hours," I wrote in my 9 out of 10 review, a score I still feel the game wholly deserves.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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