Crimson Desert reviews fail to meet the hype as Pearl Abyss shares tumble 29%

[midian182]

In a nutshell: For years now, Crimson Desert trailers and teasers have looked so good that many thought the game couldn't possibly live up to the previews, much like when No Man's Sky launched. The RPG arrives later today, and the early reviews are… pretty underwhelming. The failure to meet expectations has resulted in developer Pearl Abyss' shares falling almost 29%.

With its incredible open world, massive battles, flight, and stunning looks powered by Pearl Abyss' proprietary BlackSpace engine, Crimson Desert was one of our most anticipated PC games of 2026.

But as is so often the case with hugely hyped games, most early reviews have been far from earth-shattering. Many big publications have scored it between 60 and 70 – even IGN, which has a reputation for generous scoring, has given it a 6 in its "review so far."

A lot of the criticism has been aimed at the weak story, crowded controls, frustrating elements such as difficulty spikes, and quality-of-life issues like awkward healing and inventory management. The term "flawed" appears in many of these reviews' headlines.

There are some positive opinions: PC Gamer scored Crimson Desert an 80, Vice rated it 5/5, while both DualShockers and Forbes gave it 9.5/10. But the game still has a Metacritic score of 78, which is a lot lower than the mid-to-high 80s or even somewhere in the 90s that was expected.

Seoul Economic Daily reports that investors dumped Pearl Abyss stock following the publication of the reviews, plunging the stock down 28.96% from the previous session.

The publication writes that Pearl Abyss spent seven years developing Crimson Desert at a cost of around $133.4 million.

The big caveat here, of course, is that a game doesn't always have to be critically acclaimed to sell well and prove popular with players.

Presales alone have already pushed Crimson Desert to the top of Steam's best-sellers chart. It's also being released on Mac, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S and X, so it'll be available on plenty of platforms to make back those huge development costs.

If you do intend to buy Crimson Desert, make sure to check out our benchmark guide looking at the game's performance across 40 different GPUs.

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Crimson Desert reviews fail to meet the hype as Pearl Abyss shares tumble 29%

 

[Jarenien]

Reviewers think the game is too hard and they are too stupid to do the puzzles. Nothing to see here, shares will go back up as soon as the game goes live and people with the ability to actually fire more than two neurons at the same time start playing it.

 

[godrilla]

Reviewers think the game is too hard and they are too stupid to do the puzzles. Nothing to see here, shares will go back up as soon as the game goes live and people with the ability to actually fire more than two neurons at the same time start playing it.

From what im seeing it was the last minute bait and switch to adding Denuvo DRM. I guess they are waiting to see if their hardware can run it and reviews imo.

 

[winjer]

This game seems to be too hard for the modern gaming journalist. So it's no wonder the scores are lower than expected.

 

[brucek]

At least a few of those sound like they'll be improved in a future patch or player mod. Maybe denuvo will go away too, and the price will drop. As always with games, it pays to procrastinate.

 

[Watzupken]

Whether it is a good or bad game, let an actual gamer decide. IGN for example may be a gaming channel, but I have doubts about their credibility. Moreover, everyone is different and will have different preference. For example, reviews for Cyberpunk of late are pretty good, yet, it does not appeal to me at all.

 

[godrilla]

Imagine if the same executive that decided on Denuvo is buying on the dip.

 

[BbN48]

Imagine if the same executive that decided on Denuvo is buying on the dip. View attachment 90819

I'm no fan of Denuvo but I doubt that's what is at fault for the low reviews and the share falling in price. There are many deep issues with the game, from a quick perusal of what they write.

 

[m4a4]

Unfortunately for them, a subset of us PC gamers will no longer be playing day one because of Denuvo. So, the number of players/peak will be deflated by some amount (numbers that would help show how popular it actually is despite the reviews).

 

[godrilla]

I'm no fan of Denuvo but I doubt that's what is at fault for the low reviews and the share falling in price. There are many deep issues with the game, from a quick perusal of what they write.

Currently the trust of those reviews and paid influencers are seen as bias or conflict of interest with the average gamer' desire. Last week when the Denuvo was announced most inderpend gamer channels had a negative view on that decision and told gamers to hold off on the purchase to see how it effects their hardware. Also from the looks of it paid journalist are often found bashing a title that doesn't fit their narrative and praising titles that has a clear disconnect from the average gamer/majority.
Let's observe what happens from here. From what I am hearing it going to do well and the paid journalist will be cought again trolling on behalf of self interest!

 

[LimyG]

I've never experienced any problems with Denuvo myself, don't even notice it.
But it is hated by many. Adding it at the last moment was really silly, and will result in some not buying just because of that.

As for the "pro" review sites like IGN, I doubt Denuvo had much to do with it, (the overall review I mean - not the bit about telling people to hold off.) but as others have mentioned above, those reviews are often dodgy. They are rushed. They want to release on day one, or before if possible.

Often big site reviews don't match the reality. How can a paid reviewer get immersed in a game in one day.

I'll be waiting a few months.

 

[James Ryan]

I'm no fan of Denuvo but I doubt that's what is at fault for the low reviews and the share falling in price. There are many deep issues with the game, from a quick perusal of what they write.

Traders buy the hype and sell the top. Once a game releases the stock almost always drops.
You're better off taking the gains in the lead up then gambling on the release result.

 

[DontMakeThemEasy]

Lol. from the beginning the game looked like some fast made s**t. lighting is off and characters looks like some cheap made plastic.

 

[Gravitytr1]

The mountain ranges look like Minecraft blocks sometimes.