Crimson Desert Update replaces AI paintings

Crimson Desert's latest update, version 1.01.00, has begun replacing the controversial generative AI assets that were “accidentally” left in the game at launch.

As divisive as Crimson Desert has proven to be, you have to give Pearl Abyss credit for how quickly it has tweaked, improved, and updated the game. In the less than two weeks since its launch, Crimson Desert has had some of its biggest flaws, such as the controls, blurry resolution and loading times, addressed through quick patches.

One of the bigger controversies surrounding the game that seemed like it might take Pearl Abyss a little more time to fix is the inclusion of generative AI assets. At launch, players discovered that many of the game's paintings were AI-generated, which Pearl Abyss promised would change in a future update. As it turns out, that update wasn't far off at all.

Pearl Abyss has replaced some of Crimson Desert's AI paintings in the latest update

And somehow it only took a week

The official patch notes for Crimson Desert's 1.01.00 update note that “select 2D visual assets” has been replaced to “better align with the game's art direction”. It doesn't take much to figure out that this is referring to the “placeholder” AI-generated paintings that Pearl Abyss confirmed would be changing this time last week.

Considering how many of these paintings there are in Crimson Desert, it seemed like it might take a bit more time to fix, but, as Twitter user SynthPotato pointed out, Pearl Abyss has indeed replaced many of the AI assets in a week. Just one look at the new paintings makes it clear that they are not generative AI and are actually made by humans, which is an undeniable improvement to the world of Crimson Desert.

There was some doubt that Pearl Abyss accidentally included the AI assets and only came up with an apology after being caught, but the incredibly short turnaround suggests that it was indeed an accident. Since the patch notes mention that it's “part of ongoing visual improvements,” it's likely that some assets are still in the game, but at least the work has begun.