Why did Crimson Desert get delayed?

Pearl Abyss has confirmed that Crimson Desert, the studio's next big project, a single-player RPG, has been delayed until Q1 of 2026. The initial release date for the title was Q4 of 2025, with no confirmed launch date. While many had hoped that they would be able to get their hands on the title in Fall 2025, they will now have to wait till next year.

The reason for the delay has been revealed during Pearl Abyss' Q2 FY earnings conference call. Let's take a look at why Crimson Desert has been delayed till 2026.

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Why Crimson Desert has been delayed to 2026

Pearl Abyss's ambitious role-playing title is something that many RPG fans have been waiting for a while now. With each gameplay reveal for Crimson Desert, the anticipation grew, and many had hoped that 2025 would finally be the year that the game would release. But in the Q2 2025 earnings conference call, the studio explained why the developers are postponing the project's release to 2026.

Essentially, the game has been delayed due to issues arising from trying to coordinate its offline release, voice-overs, and console certifications.

Pearl Abyss stated the following:

“The launch of Crimson Desert, our first large-scale AAA console game, has been unavoidably delayed by one quarter, from the previously announced schedule. This is due to longer than expected timelines arising from schedule coordination and collaborations with multiple partners for offline distribution, voice-overs, console certification, and other launch preparations. We sincerely apologize for not being able to meet the originally promised fourth quarter launch schedule. Please kindly understand that this is a strategic decision aimed at insuring success on a meaningful scale."

The company further stated that the Q1 2026 release date for Crimson Desert has been confirmed internally:

“The release date has been internally confirmed for Q1 2026. However, given the change in launch timing, we will announce the date at a more appropriate time based on business considerations, rather than making an announcement at Gamescom next week."

While Pearl Abyss will be attending Gamescom 2025, which is taking place from August 19, 2025, no release date will be announced during the event. The developers might unveil the title's launch date during The Game Awards later this year, but there are chances for the RPG to get delayed again.

This is not the first time that Pearl Abyss's upcoming RPG has faced a delay, as the game originally got a release window for the winter of 2021, which was later postponed multiple times.