Crimson Desert is “not a copy of other AAA games” according to The Witcher 3 director – and after my 175 hours of play and five million copies sold, it all makes sense

The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz praised Crimson Desert for “delivering something quite new” compared to other AAA games
Pearl Abyss recently announced that the game had sold five million copies
There are still many updates coming from Pearl Abyss with new game content

Pearl Abyss receives a lot of praise for her efforts on Crimson Desertmainly thanks to its open-world design, which rewards players for their curiosity when exploring – and recent compliments and copies sold bear this out.

In an interview with The Game Business, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, director of The Witcher 3 : Wild Huntrented Crimson Desert — alongside people like Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 — to stand out from other AAA games and push the boundaries beyond what gamers are used to.

Tomaszkiewicz’s compliments are also justified by the fact that Pearl Abyss recently announced that it had sold five million copies of Crimson Desertmarking the game as a huge success for the developer (based on the reported development cost of $133 million). And frankly, after 175 hours of play, the game deserves my praise as well.

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Speaking about trying “risky things” in AAA RPGs for more immersion, Tomaszkiewicz said: “I think that [idea] is growing these days, because when you look at Clair Obscur or Crimson Desert right now, those games are different.

“They’re not a copy of other AAA games, but they bring something quite new. And I’m really happy about that because I’m starting to feel like I was in the 1990s when I played games on my PC 286, or even on Atari where every game was different.”

(Image credit: Future / Isaiah Williams / Pearl Abyss)

Praise of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt The director is worth noting given the quality and success of the CD Projekt Red title. While Crimson Desert isn’t a narrative experience, it thrives on offering an open-world experience that few games have replicated.

Crimson Desert is clearly a hidden gem in the eyes of many gamers, including myself, and this becomes even more evident with Tomaszkiewicz’s compliments, the game’s consistently high player count on Steam for almost an entire month after its launch date, and (especially) after passing the 100 hour mark without getting bored.

Usually these are a major inconvenience in an open world game, as they often overstay their welcome, but Crimson Desert kept me, and thousands (via SteamDB) of other players, hooked for several hours.

With more updates adding new content on the way and the game’s mod community already adding new mods, such as new hairstyles and beards for playable characters, it seems that Crimson Desert will be talked about for a very long time.

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