Pearl Abyss has teased some new features coming to Crimson Desert, its super-popular open-world action-adventure RPG. Alongside summonable mounts, the South Korean studio is working on adding difficulty settings to the game; that way, you can tailor your experience--and your death--to your skill level.
In a lengthy developer blog on the studio's official website, posted on April 9, Pearl Abyss outlined "some of the new features and content currently in development"--all of which have been shaped by community feedback. In the "New Content and Features" section, the developer shared that it's working on adding three difficulty options "so that everyone--from new Greymanes to the more advanced--can enjoy the adventure at the level that suits them best." Once added, you'll be able to select easy, normal, or hard options to tune Crimson Desert to your preferred playstyle.
While it's unclear if you'll be able to switch between these three difficulty options freely, Pearl Abyss said it's also working on "new combat-focused content." Maybe this will help alleviate just how punishing "hard" may be, while making "easy" as flashy as a Devil May Cry game.
Regardless, this is a welcome addition to an incredibly obtuse game. Because it's a see-it-and-go-there kind of experience, you can end up in higher-level areas where enemies deal significantly more damage than you can take. Similarly, you can also overlevel your characters to the point of trivializing combat encounters, making even the toughest of enemies crumple like fragile paper. Although there is no difficulty setting in the game right now, the open-world nature of Crimson Desert, in a way, determines how hard of a time you'll have in Pywell. And some bosses, like the early-game Forgotten General and Reed Devil, can absolutely mop the floor with your face. Having the option to change the difficulty will no doubt bring in even more players than the over 4 million so far.
The topic of difficulty options is contentious in any game's community, and Crimson Desert is no exception, with this incoming update generating a lot of debate in the game's official subreddit. However, many Redditors are praising not only Pearl Abyss for addressing the community's complaints so quickly, but also adding difficulty options in the first place; as many have decried, the bosses are some of the most punishing encounters.
Crimson Desert has been a huge success for Pearl Abyss, selling well over 4 million copies since its March 19 launch on consoles and PC. The South Korean team is continuing to improve the experience as well, addressing issues with inventory management and storage capacity while seemingly replacing unintentionally included AI art. The community is eating the game up, too, with players finding the best drip in Pywell, watching NPCs go about their daily lives, and searching for the bestest of friends.
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In a lengthy developer blog on the studio's official website, posted on April 9, Pearl Abyss outlined "some of the new features and content currently in development"--all of which have been shaped by community feedback. In the "New Content and Features" section, the developer shared that it's working on adding three difficulty options "so that everyone--from new Greymanes to the more advanced--can enjoy the adventure at the level that suits them best." Once added, you'll be able to select easy, normal, or hard options to tune Crimson Desert to your preferred playstyle.
While it's unclear if you'll be able to switch between these three difficulty options freely, Pearl Abyss said it's also working on "new combat-focused content." Maybe this will help alleviate just how punishing "hard" may be, while making "easy" as flashy as a Devil May Cry game.
Regardless, this is a welcome addition to an incredibly obtuse game. Because it's a see-it-and-go-there kind of experience, you can end up in higher-level areas where enemies deal significantly more damage than you can take. Similarly, you can also overlevel your characters to the point of trivializing combat encounters, making even the toughest of enemies crumple like fragile paper. Although there is no difficulty setting in the game right now, the open-world nature of Crimson Desert, in a way, determines how hard of a time you'll have in Pywell. And some bosses, like the early-game Forgotten General and Reed Devil, can absolutely mop the floor with your face. Having the option to change the difficulty will no doubt bring in even more players than the over 4 million so far.
It's been three weeks since we first welcomed you to Pywel, and we're incredibly grateful for your adventures, feedback, and support along the way. Today, we'd like to share a preview of new features, content, and improvements currently in development, including new ways to… pic.twitter.com/bE40OrJfli
— Crimson Desert (@CrimsonDesert_) April 10, 2026
The topic of difficulty options is contentious in any game's community, and Crimson Desert is no exception, with this incoming update generating a lot of debate in the game's official subreddit. However, many Redditors are praising not only Pearl Abyss for addressing the community's complaints so quickly, but also adding difficulty options in the first place; as many have decried, the bosses are some of the most punishing encounters.
Crimson Desert has been a huge success for Pearl Abyss, selling well over 4 million copies since its March 19 launch on consoles and PC. The South Korean team is continuing to improve the experience as well, addressing issues with inventory management and storage capacity while seemingly replacing unintentionally included AI art. The community is eating the game up, too, with players finding the best drip in Pywell, watching NPCs go about their daily lives, and searching for the bestest of friends.
Source