Haters Gonna Hate: Crimson Desert Sells 2 Million in a Day

Pearl Abyss announced today that Crimson Desert sold two million copies within its first 24 hours. The figure likely offers some relief to the Korean producer, whose shares had dropped approximately 40% since initial reviews were published, including a 30% drop on the first day alone. Launched on March 19, 2026, at 3 p.m. Pacific Time (PT), 6 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), and 10 p.m. British Time (BT), Crimson Desert garnered mixed user reviews on Steam. Steam reviewers criticized the controls as clunky and overly complex, while others cited visual issues like blurriness on both PC and PS5. Pearl Abyss aims to improve the game's Steam review rating by addressing these concerns promptly. Driven by a significant marketing push and considerable buzz, the successful launch marks a major achievement for the new intellectual property. "We are thrilled to share that #CrimsonDesert has sold over 2 million copies worldwide," the studio wrote, adding that it intends to improve the game based on public feedback. On launch day, Crimson Desert's first patch addressed numerous bugs encountered by critics and introduced a fast-travel spot for a key zone. This patch, however, was not available during the review period.

Crimson Desert's Player-Inspired Improvements & Peak of 239k Concurrent Players on Debut Day

Pearl Abyss is now accelerating improvements to Crimson Desert based on player suggestions. "We’ll take all the community feedback into account and work to implement improvements rapidly, striving to make the journey even more enjoyable for our players," the company stated. Crimson Desert also peaked at 239,000 concurrent players on Steam on its first day. Pearl Abyss has committed to addressing player feedback with ongoing improvements, suggesting a long series of patches is likely.

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