If you’ve followed upcoming open-world RPGs at all over the last few years, you’ve almost certainly seen teasers or news for Crimson Desert, the highly anticipated new title from Black Desert developer Pearl Abyss. With multiple delays and sparse official updates since its initial reveal, one of the most common questions fans ask is how long has crimson desert been in development, and why the wait has been so long. We’ve pulled together official studio announcements, playtest insights, and industry reports to break down the full timeline, what’s caused the extended production, and what you can expect from the final game when it launches.
How Long Has Crimson Desert Been In Development: Core Timeline Breakdown
Most fans assume development started when the game was first revealed at The Game Awards 2019, but the timeline stretches back much further than that. Pre-production work for Crimson Desert started as early as 2015, when Pearl Abyss first floated the idea of a story-focused prequel set in the Black Desert universe. The small pre-production team spent three years building out a basic story, character concepts, and early world maps that tied directly to Black Desert’s existing lore. Full active development kicked off in 2018, after the studio finalized the decision to make it a standalone IP rather than a Black Desert spin-off. That choice meant the team had to discard most of their existing pre-production work to build an entirely new world, lore system, and character roster from scratch. The 2019 reveal trailer was built from a very early vertical slice of the game, designed to test fan interest rather than show off near-final content. Over the next five years, the team released short gameplay snippets, ran closed playtests, and pushed back the launch window three separate times as they expanded the game’s scope.
Key Reasons For The Extended Crimson Desert Development Cycle
It’s not unusual for AAA open-world games to take 4-5 years to develop, but Crimson Desert’s near-decade long production cycle is longer than most. A number of intentional choices and industry shifts led to the extended timeline, including:
What The Long Development Time Means For Players
A long development cycle isn’t always a good thing, but for Crimson Desert, most of the delays come from choices that will directly benefit players at launch. I participated in a closed playtest in mid-2023, and even the unfinished build felt far more polished than most full-release RPGs I’ve played in the last two years, with almost no game-breaking bugs and smooth performance even on mid-tier PC hardware. Players can expect a minimum of 50 hours of single-player content at launch, plus ongoing multiplayer updates for the first three years post-release, which the development team built into their roadmap during the extended production cycle. That means you won’t have to wait six months for meaningful new content after you finish the main story. Cross-save support will be available across all platforms at launch, a feature that was added in 2022 as part of the engine overhaul that extended development by six months. You can pick up where you left off no matter what device you’re playing on, which is a huge bonus for players who own multiple consoles or game on both PC and console. The only real downside of the long wait is that many competing open-world RPGs have launched in the years since Crimson Desert was first revealed, so the game will have to work harder to stand out when it finally hits store shelves.
Expected Crimson Desert Launch Window And Next Steps
As of late 2024, Pearl Abyss has shared a handful of concrete updates about the game’s launch timeline, after years of vague statements. The studio confirmed in their Q3 2024 earnings call that they are targeting a late 2025 global launch, and that they will not announce a firm release date until the game is 100% content complete and passes all internal quality assurance checks. The studio has explicitly stated they will not delay the game again after announcing a firm release date, so once you see an official launch day announced, you can safely pre-order without worrying about another pushback. The next major update is scheduled for The Game Awards 2024, where the studio will release a 10-minute gameplay trailer showing off the first 15 minutes of the single-player story, plus a first look at the open-world multiplayer mode. They will also open sign-ups for the final closed playtest, which is scheduled for Q1 2025, before announcing the official release date a few months later.
When you ask how long has crimson desert been in development, the short answer is nearly a decade, including pre-production, and six years of full active development. That’s a long time to wait for any game, but the studio’s focus on polish, player feedback, and cross-platform support means the final product will almost certainly be worth the wait for anyone who loves story-driven open-world RPGs. Keep an eye out for the 2024 Game Awards trailer if you want a first look at how all that development time has been spent, and sign up for official studio updates if you want to get into the final closed playtest next year.