Pearl Abyss confirms a pure premium experience as new insights reveal how the game balances challenge without difficulty sliders.
Crimson Desert is getting more and more exciting as new information comes out about two big issues that have been talked about a lot lately: how to make money and how to make the game harder. It’s official: the upcoming open-world action RPG will not have any kind of microtransaction shop when it comes out.
Comments made by Pearl Abyss representatives during an appearance on the Dropped Frames show confirmed the news. They made it clear that Crimson Desert is being built as a fully premium experience. After buying the game, players will be able to play the whole world without being pushed to make in-game purchases.
In the business world we live in now, that choice seems important. In the past, aggressive monetization was usually avoided by high-end single-player RPGs, but in recent years, the line between the two has become less clear. This news is even more important for a company that is best known for its MMO roots.
Pearl Abyss was already famous around the world for Black Desert Online, a game with a very different live-service business strategy.
Notably, Crimson Desert started out as an MMO but later changed direction to become a stand-alone RPG set in an open world. Just that change made people wonder how revenue might change in the future.
Pearl Abyss seems to be making a statement by announcing a launch without microtransactions. This is especially true for players who may be trying out the studio’s work for the first time. For a lot of people, Crimson Desert will be their first time in Pearl Abyss. This new group of players, unlike long-time Black Desert Online players, mostly likes story-driven, single-player, open-world RPGs.
That difference is very important. Pearl Abyss is entering a new part of the market, and the company seems to know that they need to build goodwill. Launching the game without microtransactions makes it stand out as a full, stand-alone adventure rather than a live-service test.
This approach is different from some open-world trends seen in the past few years, where even full-priced games sometimes come with cosmetic shops, boosters, or extra content that can be bought at launch. Crimson Desert shows that it believes in the importance of its base experience by not using that model.
Another big question that people are arguing about is whether Crimson Desert will have normal hard settings.
People noticed that a tag for a difficulty option had allegedly been taken off of some storefront listings. This led to rumors about how the game is structured.
Based on what people said during the Dropped Frames talk, Crimson Desert will not have the usual “easy,” “normal,” and “hard” sliders that many open-world RPGs have. That doesn’t mean the game will be easy, though.
The developers made it clear that the game is not like Souls, but it will have difficult battles, especially boss fights that are part of the main story. You can’t just skip these events, but players aren’t forced to try them over and over again if they don’t want to.
Instead, the game is designed in a way that is similar to how Elden Ring was made. People who are having trouble with a boss can take a break and look around the world. To make things easier, there are side tasks, consumables, food buffs, and items that can be made.
Crimson Desert is different because it seems to have accessibility built right into its features instead of being accessible through menus. Food and camps can give players buffs, players can make consumables, players can find blueprints for revival items, and players can even set up multiple chances to revive before big fights.
Instead of choosing a preset choice, this method lets players change the difficulty by planning ahead and exploring.
People who want a tougher experience can ignore the principles of revival or limit buffs, while others can overprepare on purpose.
The combat is said to be combo-based and player-paced, which is different from the tight dodge-window structure that is common in games like Souls. Mastery isn’t just about passing narrow timing checks; it’s also about chaining skills together well.
Crimson Desert seems to be meant to give players a lot of freedom in the end.
Even though the main task is still there, the tools make sure that most players will never feel stuck. This freedom could be one of the best things about the game, especially in an open world where exploring is promoted.
As people get more excited, Pearl Abyss seems determined to make not only a visually stunning RPG, but also one that strikes a good mix between difficulty, ease of use, and user-friendliness. On March 19, we’ll find out if the finished product lives up to the hype, but for now, it’s clear that player confidence is rising.
