Crimson Desert’s sweeping post-launch update plans are bringing game-changing updates to the open-world game. Alongside development of new DLC, the studio is working on improving combat, the game’s story, and more with major patches.
This unusual approach to development has led some to accuse Crimson Desert of being an unlabelled early access game. However, Fallout New Vegas lead Josh Sawyer has defended the game’s unique support plans.
Discussing the game on BlueSky, Sawyer explained that the fact that patches are coming is more important than leaving the game as it is. “I think this is fine/good,” the developer said, “even if it isn’t ideal”.
Sawyer’s work on games like Fallout New Vegas likely would’ve benefitted from modern patching process. Games like Cyberpunk 2077 have become significantly overhauled after their launches, and that allows for gamers to get a much better experience, even if launch is far from perfect.
The Fallout designer explained that patching Crimson Desert is just “like patching anything”, and it’s better to give players better games after the fact than leave it as it is. Since launch, fans have expressed indifference at the game’s story, and patches to improve the game’s narrative are better than sticking with the game’s currently shoddy format.
The developer continued: “It’s better to patch story content to make it better than to say, ‘we f**ked up on release but we won’t do anything about it because story is different from anything else’.”
Sawyer explained that his work on Icewind Dale followed a similar example. The CRPG’s Hearts of Winter expansion “was both short and expensive”, and fans were unhappy. As a result, the team made Trials of the Luremaster as a free expansion that continued after that story’s finale with additional content.
The reality is that we now live with a games industry that can do more sweeping updates than before. No Man’s Sky, for example, wasn’t great on release, and is still getting major improvements years after its official launch.
Crimson Desert is an insanely ambitious title, and it stumbles in quite a lot of areas. Since launch, the game has already improved by multitudes, and it’s nice to see the game get more sweeping support. By biggest gripe with the game is its confusing, formless narrative, and I’m excited to play the game again when that story is overhauled and improved.
As for the future of the open-world RPG, Pearl Abyss expects the game to rake in half-a-billion dollars by the end of 2026. Alongside the sales of DLC, the game is also coming to Nintendo Switch 2 with a port currently in development.
