WTF?! Crimson Desert, the new action RPG that promised players a game like no other, has failed to meet its pre-release hype. It's going to be an especially disappointing experience for anyone using an Intel Arc GPU, as developer Pearl Abyss has revealed that the game will not run on those cards at all. Its solution? Ask the platform they bought it from for a refund.
Following a slew of mostly average to quite good pre-launch reviews for Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss' stock price fell almost 30%. It seems many had expected the game to receive Baldur's Gate 3-level praise.
Critics' opinions don't always match gamers' views, of course. But less than 24 hours after launch, Crimson Desert has a Mixed rating on Steam. This is a game that boasts over 100 hours of gameplay, but these early impressions aren't promising.
One of the 6,650 negative comments comes from a user with an Intel B580 card in their PC. Their complaint is certainly justifiable: Crimson Desert doesn't work on Intel GPUs. Any system packing one of Intel's cards that tries to play the game will see an error message that reads: "Graphics device is currently not supported"
What's especially annoying for Arc owners is that there was no confirmation from Pearl Abyss that these GPUs were unsupported. While they were lacking from the game's system requirements, that's not something unusual given the small percentage of Arc users compared to Nvidia/AMD GPU owners.
The Crimson Desert frequently asked questions page confirms that the game does not currently support Intel Arc graphics cards. The FAQ advises asking the platform where it was purchased for a refund.
This disclaimer was not on the page prior to Crimson Desert's launch. Pearl Abyss apologizes for any inconvenience caused, which isn't likely to placate Arc owners.
One popular post on the Steam reviews section reads, "might be the first time I've seen a dev deliberately block a GPU brand."
The use of the term "currently" would usually suggest Arc support will arrive at a later date, but the fact Pearl Abyss is advising people to seek refunds sounds like the company isn't going to bother.
Will Crimson Desert do a No Man's Sky or Cyberpunk 2077 and eventually be patched into the game we expected from the trailers (and add Arc support)? We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, check out our GPU performance benchmarks for the game, where we noted the lack of Intel Arc support.