In July 2023, Korean publications reported that Sony was attempting to secure some sort of exclusivity for Crimson Desert, the upcoming action/adventure game in development at Pearl Abyss.
Now, the Korean developer and publisher primarily known for Black Desert has confirmed that was indeed the case. More specifically, they revealed to have received an offer from Sony for a timed exclusivity that would ban the Xbox version for a period of time. However, they decided to go with the self-publishing route after judging it would result in higher profits.
The news came from the recent Kiwoom Securities Corporate Day, where Pearl Abyss executives talked about Crimson Desert in great detail, as reported by financial blogger HPNS. The game notoriously received many delays (it was originally set to launch in Winter 2021); according to Pearl Abyss, this is because the developers added many gameplay features to the open world design, mainly to improve interactions with the environment and NPCs. Games like Assassin’s Creed and The Legend of Zelda were referenced for the player’s freedom, and Red Dead Redemption and The Witcher 3 were also huge inspirations.
When it comes to AI, Pearl Abyss says the NPCs have a behavior system that lets them judge the best course of action depending on the situation. For example, if they see that too many of their allies have already been slaughtered by the player, they may attempt to flee for their life. There’s also a reputation system, and players can allegedly behave like a hero or a villain depending on their actions. The behaviors also change based on the day/night cycle or dynamic weather, with NPCs getting slower at night or when the temperature is freezing. Pearl Abyss also claimed having their own engine makes these features easier to implement than they would be with Unreal Engine 5.
A final interesting tidbit is that Sony reportedly gave a highly positive evaluation of Crimson Desert, which likely explains their offer. They compared it to Ghost of Tsushima for the story’s quality and atmosphere, which says a lot, given that Sucker Punch’s title was the most successful new IP released by Sony’s PlayStation Studios.
For more on Crimson Desert, check out our Gamescom 2024 report. In theory, the game is expected to launch in the first half of 2025, although we wouldn’t be too surprised if that changed again.
