Crimson Desert: The Golden Stage and 4K Enhancements
In a move eagerly anticipated by the global gaming community, Pearl Abyss officially announced that its highly anticipated game, Crimson Desert, has reached "Gone Gold." This announcement not only signifies the completion of core development and the game's readiness for distribution, but also marks a strategic turning point, with the entire team transitioning to a phase of "comprehensive optimization" and performance refinement to ensure a flawless technical experience.
Focus on performance ahead of official launch
With the official release date set for March 19th , Will Powers, Director of Public Relations at Pearl Abyss America, explained that the top priority right now is to use the remaining time to ensure the game's stability across all platforms. This statement aims to reassure players, especially after recent gameplay footage revealed a visually rich and complex open world, raising legitimate questions about whether mid-range devices and the Xbox Series S will be able to run the game smoothly.
A technological revolution with a completely new engine
Crimson Desert holds particular significance in the current gaming industry, arriving at a time when Korean games are experiencing an unprecedented global boom. To realize its ambitious vision, Powers revealed that the studio developed an entirely new game engine specifically for this title. This powerful engine enables the game to run at native 4K and 60 frames per second with ray tracing enabled.
What's striking is the developers' emphasis that this performance will be delivered without the need for AI-powered upscaling technologies like Nvidia's DLSS FSR —a clear challenge to current standards where most demanding games rely on these technologies to run smoothly. Powers stated, "We want to show that the game can deliver this level of performance on its own, relying on the engine's power," while acknowledging that these extreme settings will require powerful computer hardware.
Special enhancements for the console and PS5 Pro
Regarding home consoles, while the precise details of the graphics settings remain under wraps, the team confirmed that there are enhancements specifically designed for the PS5 Pro , promising a superior visual experience for owners of the upgraded console. The developers have also provided flexible options in the settings menu, such as the ability to disable certain particle effects. Although these effects are visually important in combat, some players may prefer to turn them off for smoother performance or clearer vision.
Crimson Desert is one of the most anticipated titles, representing a significant leap forward for Pearl Abyss following their overwhelming success with Black Desert Online. It is expected to set new standards for open-world games in terms of environmental interaction and graphical quality when it is released in the first quarter of next year.
