Crimson Desert has sold 2 million copies in just 1 day

Pearl Abyss announces Crimson Desert has already exceeded 2 million copies sold worldwide just 1 day after its release. As a single player spin-off of Crimson Desert Onlineit's been a long road for Pearl Abyss after revealing the game all the way back in 2020 during The Game Awards. Since then, Crimson Desert has continued to build excitement and quickly became one of 2026's most anticipated titles, a big reason why the game was able to pass a huge sales milestone so quickly.

It's been a whirlwind 24 hours for Pearl Abyss, and it's a newly launched game, Crimson Desert. Ahead of launch, the developer has revealed all sorts of new information about the title, including rejecting the idea of microtransactions and even showing off Crimson Desert running on a base PS5, something fans had been eagerly waiting to see. But not all information has been embraced by the community, including the confirmation of the controversial Denuvo DRM system for PC gamers. Despite the news, it hasn't stopped Crimson Desert from being a big hit right out of the gate.

How to make money fast in Crismon Desert

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How to make money fast in Crimson Desert

Earning a good amount of copper and silver coins allows players to buy whatever they want in the Crimson Desert.

Crimson Desert reaches 2 million copies sold in 24 hours

Just one day after the launch of Crimson Desertrevealed developer Pearl Abyss that the anticipated title could sell over 2 million copies in just 24 hours. The tweet thanked fans for their support and confirmed that the studio is already working through feedback shared by the community. No timelines were confirmed, but the studio indicated that it would move quickly to address the various problems and issues affecting players.

Despite the anticipation for the release, the last 24 hours have not been smooth. In fact, when the reviews hit Crimson Desertthe share price of Pearl Abyss dropped by 30%. It seems that investors were alarmed by reviews that many saw as “disappointing” and probably lower than the initial hype likely suggested they would be. But when you take a look at the entire review landscape, it actually doesn't paint such a terrible picture as they range from average to good. However, it appears that investors were likely hoping for scores that didn't deviate as much and were likely to be more generally good.

Balance the critics' averages

Light (6) Medium (8) Hard (10)

Despite the amount of reviews, Crimson Desert launched to very impressive numbers, peaking at 239,045 concurrent players on Steam and massive viewership on Twitch. While there are no specific numbers to draw on for consoles, it is assumed that the game will do equally well on PlayStation and Xbox. Despite the initial “Mixed” rating on Steam at launch, the score has risen slightly at the time of writing, currently sitting at “Mostly Positive” with over 16,000 reviews written.

As mentioned in the tweet, Pearl Abyss seems to be aware of how much work remains to be done, which Crimson Desert is not a perfect game by any means. In fact, one of the bigger current issues that players continue to bring up is the control scheme and how complicated it can be. However, it is unknown if Pearl Abyss will ultimately make any sweeping changes, as Pearl Abyss PR and Marketing Manager Will Powers responded to a fan asking for a more simplified setup. Powers mentioned that learning the controls can be compared to learning to ride a bike, and it comes naturally after practice and learning. That is Crimson Deserts control scheme has a steep learning curve, but Powers says it should feel more natural and easier to use once players become more familiar with it.