Crimson Desert, the single player RPG spin-off from hit Korean MMO Black Desert, has surpassed 3m Wishlists in the run up to its launch later this month.
Announced on official Crimson Desert social media accounts, the milestone came with a message of appreciation from the development team. This wishlist figure only marks early interest on Steam, with the game set to launch on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on the 19th March.
This news comes after a series of interviews and preview coverage for the game. During this period, potential players learned not only that no AI voice acting would be used for the NPCs in the game, but also the game’s stance as a ‘premium experience’ without microtransactions and similar additional purchasables (save for a deluxe edition).
Crimson Desert’s release comes at something of a turning point for Korean game development. Following the release of Stellar Blade, a number of studios with roots in live service games have decided to leap over to such ventures. This includes Pear Abyss’ Crimson Desert of course, but also future projects from the developer of Lies of P, and Stellar Blade developer Shift Up. In recent years, South Korea has positioned itself as a rising force in premium titles, supported by these recent hits as well as expert analysis.
If you want Eurogamer’s early impressions of Crimson Desert, you can read our preview from last year’s Gamescom Demo. In it, former Eurogamer writer Ed Nightingale came away with mixed opinions on the title. “Crimson Desert just felt wrong in my hands, its intricacies eluding me, Nightingale wrote. “Perhaps with time (and started slowly from the beginning) it could click, but after two goes I’m not convinced.”
