A game-changing commercial success
The fact that Crimson Desert reached 2 million sales in 24 hours was already an excellent indicator of its commercial success. It then only took a few more days to reach the milestone of 3 million units sold, a figure which confirms the massive public interest in this new Korean license.
This rapid success had a direct impact on the perception of the game, but also on the financial situation of the studio. At the time of its release, however, all was not won. Despite good sales forecasts, Pearl Abyss shares fell by nearly 30%, notably due to reviews deemed below expectations.
Now, investors are having a “Whoopsie” moment and are currently sending the Pearl Abyss stock +27.76% up.
The studio yesterday announced 3M Crimson Desert copies sold.
Happens in Asian markets all the time with game stocks.
(It’s 11:30am Wed in Korea, trading continues) https://t.co/HrKil6fL46 pic.twitter.com/7riIpYesDO
— Dr. Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) March 25, 2026
But the trend has suddenly reversed. After the announcement of 3 million sales, shareholders logically regained confidence and the studio’s stock jumped by more than 27% in a single day.
A follow-up that also bears fruit
If Crimson Desert was attractive at its beginnings, the feedback was more mixed from the players’ side, and confirmed certain criticisms already highlighted in the tests (including ours). On PC in particular, the first opinions mentioned sometimes rigid controls, performance problems, or even a lack of balancing on certain bosses and challenges. The PlayStation 5 version, despite a decent rendering, also seems to have suffered from a rather annoying bug.
Since then, several updates have been deployed and have significantly improved the experience. Ratings on Steam have gone from “average” to generally positive. Even if it remains difficult to precisely quantify this impact, it is likely that the responsiveness of Pearl Abyss was decisive in improving the image of the game (even in the case of the use of generative AI) and supporting word of mouth.
The game is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series. Do not hesitate to consult our complete guide to Crimson Desert to help you during your adventure in Pywell.