Five days after it launched, CrimsonDesert has sold through two million copies worldwide, according to Pearl Abyss.
“Thank you so much to our fans, community, and everyone who has joined us in Pywel. We will listen closely to the wide range of feedback shared by the community and work to make improvements quickly, doing our utmost to make the journey ahead even more enjoyable for our players,” the company said.
Meanwhile, IGN reported that Pearl Abyss ackwnoledged that parts of the game included art assets made with generative AI.
Pearl Abyss said in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz that it should have disclosed the use of generative AI — something required for games published on Steam. The company said, “Ssome 2D visual props were created as part of early-stage iteration using experimental AI generative tools.”
Those assets were supposed to be replaced, but weren’t. The company said,”This is not in line with our internal standards, and we take full responsibility for it.”
So far, that does not appear to have hurt sales or review scores. On Metacritic, the game has a score of 78 out of 100 from 93 reviews by critics, and the user score is 80.
Here is the full statement on AI use in the game:
We would like to address questions regarding the use of AI in Crimson Desert.
During development, some 2D visual props were created as part of early-stage iteration using experimental AI generative tools. These assets helped us rapidly explore tone and atmosphere in the earlier phases of production. However, our intention has always been for any such assets to be replaced, following final work and review by our art and development teams, with work that aligned with our quality standards and creative direction.
Following reports from our community, we have identified that some of these assets were unintentionally included in the final release. This is not in line with our internal standards, and we take full responsibility for it.
We also acknowledge that we should have clearly disclosed our use of AI. While these tools were primarily used during early production, with the expectation that these assets would be replaced prior to release, we recognize that this does not excuse the lack of transparency.
We sincerely apologize for these oversights.We are currently conducting a comprehensive audit of all in-game assets and are taking steps to replace any affected content. Updated assets will be rolled out in upcoming patches. In parallel, we are reviewing and strengthening our internal processes to ensure greater transparency and consistency in how we communicate with players moving forward.