Crimson Desert Enhanced Edition gets a surprise demo on PlayStation and Xbox, lets you play for 5 hours and carry over your save data
Crimson Desert is one of 2026's most successful releases.
Crimson Desert is one of 2026's most successful releases.
The short version
- The game managed to sell over 6 million copies in just three months , and ended up being so profitable that its publisher ended up giving each employee at development studio Pearl Abyss a $3,400 bonus .
- Since launch, the dev has been committed to improving the game and correcting some of the more egregious issues that were present at launch.
- Now, over half a year after its launch - and with the publisher's revenue up a massive 419 percent - it seems the company is eager to let anyone that hasn't yet purchased the game try it out, completely free.
What happened
To celebrate the launch of the delayed Charting the Unknown DLC, which came out yesterday, Pearl Abyss has made the first five hours of the game completely free to play for (nearly) anyone on Xbox or PlayStation. Any trial progress you make carries over to the full game if you decide to purchase it, and once your five hours are up, that's it - you can't restart the trial on a different save or something like that.
Why it matters
Charting the Unknown is the first bit of DLC for the game - there's likely more to come - and a Switch 2 version of the sandbox fantasy RPG is currently in development.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Eurogamer via the links above and below.