Highly anticipated open-world RPG Crimson Desert is delayed into 2026

With The Witcher 4 not set to arrive until at least 2027, I've been looking forward to Crimson Desert. The new open-world game from developer Pearl Abyss has impressed us in multiple early playtests, and brings a uniquely vicious and impactful brand of combat to the table in a world worthy of standing alongside CD Projekt Red's titan. Unfortunately, it appears that we'll now be waiting a little longer to enjoy it, as the action-heavy RPG has been delayed into early 2026.

I was blown away by my initial taste of Crimson Desert at Gamescom 2024. During our most recent look at, Jamie came away similarly wowed by its impressive scale and presentation, along with the climactic, over-the-top battles, although we both found the overly intricate control scheme a bit too clunky. It's certainly a contender to rank among our best RPGs and, based on its stunning environments, the best open-world games as well. Unfortunately, Pearl Abyss reveals that it will no longer make the originally announced launch in the fourth quarter of 2025.

During its second-quarter earnings conference call for 2025, Pearl Abyss confirmed that it has pushed back the Crimson Desert launch window (via Gematsu). "The launch of Crimson Desert, our first large-scale triple-A console game, has been unavoidably delayed by one quarter, from the previously announced schedule. This is due to longer than expected timelines arising from schedule coordination and collaborations with multiple partners for offline distribution, voiceovers, console certification, and other launch preparations."

Pearl Abyss says it is currently in the process of working on voiceovers for the project, along with console certification tasks. "We sincerely apologize for not being able to meet the originally promised fourth-quarter launch schedule," it continues. "Please kindly understand that this is a strategic decision aimed at ensuring success on a meaningful scale."

The developer says the new Crimson Desert release date "has been internally confirmed" for the first quarter of 2026, but that due to the change it will hold off on confirming the updated schedule until "a more appropriate time based on business considerations, rather than making an announcement at Gamescom next week."

In the meantime, you can keep up to date with the latest word on The Witcher 4 release date. If these gorgeous newcomers have you in the market for an upgrade, take a look through our guide to the best graphics card in 2025.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We've also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.