Crimson Desert has “opened a new chapter in K content”, according to the South Korean Prime Minister – and the game’s Steam player count underlines that, beating out the likes of Marvel Rivals and keeping players interested even more than Elden Ring.

• Crimson Desert’s Steam player count still higher than several live games one month after launch
• South Korea’s prime minister has praised Pearl Abyss and says it has “opened a new chapter for K content.”
• Crimson Desert has sold over five million copies and has higher player retention than Elden Ring one month after launch.

Pearl of the Abyss Crimson Desert has been almost untouchable since its launch in March, as it’s still firmly placed at the center of player discussions, and the rankings and recent high-profile praise only further solidify its current dominance in the single-player genre.

As GamesRadar reports, Crimson Desert Still has high Steam player counts a month after launch, with a 24-hour peak of 134,225 players, as reported on SteamDB. Notably, this 24-hour peak is higher than those of several active and popular live games, such as Arc Raiders (104,355), Marvel Rivals (133 145), and Battlefield 6 (57,117).

This is very rare for a single-player game, especially one that’s just over a month old. While the game’s massive open world likely has a role to play in the current player count, player retention is ultimately a testament to how Pearl Abyss designed the game, as many players often abandon similar games due to open world fatigue.

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In fact, Crimson Desert was so successful that it caught the attention of South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-Seok, who recently said, “It [Crimson Desert] has captivated the hearts of users around the world with a living game world created entirely from start to finish using their [Pearl Abyss’] own technology”, known as the Black Space engine.