Crimson Desert Could Expand with Multiplayer and DLCs After Launch, Pearl Abyss Says It Depends on Market Demand
Pearl Abyss has signaled that Crimson Desert may not remain a strictly single player experience forever, with the company confirming in its Q4 2025 earnings call that post launch plans could include downloadable content and even multiplayer modes, depending on market demand. The comments come directly from the executive discussion that followed the earnings release, where the studio outlined how it is thinking about Crimson Desert as both a flagship product and a potential platform, as long as the commercial performance supports that level of continued investment.
This is a notable shift in messaging because Crimson Desert’s identity has changed several times across its development cycle. The project originally carried MMO expectations, then transitioned into an open world game with multiplayer elements, and in recent years Pearl Abyss has largely framed it as a single player focused experience. Based on the earnings call, the company has not fully abandoned the multiplayer concept. Instead, it appears Pearl Abyss prioritized shipping a complete single player foundation first, leaving expansion options on the table if the launch proves strong enough to justify extended development.
Pearl Abyss also used the call to explain why Crimson Desert took longer than expected. The studio pointed to the parallel development of its BlackSpace Engine as a major factor, effectively stating that Crimson Desert was not just a game project, but also a technology build out. The company now believes it has reached a stabilization stage with the engine, which should reduce development time on future projects by allowing teams to concentrate on game content rather than engine construction.
That technology readiness matters because Pearl Abyss is juggling multiple high profile titles beyond Crimson Desert, including the open world creature collecting game DokeV and the exosuit shooter Plan 8. The executives emphasized that the studio has gained meaningful internal experience shipping and optimizing for console platforms through Crimson Desert development, and that this know how should translate into more efficient pipelines and smaller gaps between launches going forward.
DokeV received a specific timeline callout that will catch the attention of anyone who has been waiting since the game’s early public showings. Pearl Abyss acknowledged the long silence and said Crimson Desert remained the priority, which limited how much it could share. Now, the company estimates it could take roughly 2 years after Crimson Desert launches to ship DokeV, factoring in both development and at least about 1 year of launch preparation even after a game is complete. The upside is that Pearl Abyss expects communication around DokeV to begin later in 2026, suggesting the marketing cadence may finally restart once Crimson Desert is out the door and stabilized.
Taken together, the earnings call paints a clear strategy: Crimson Desert is the near term revenue and reputation driver, BlackSpace Engine is the long term scalability lever, and DokeV plus Plan 8 are the next wave that benefits from the engine maturing. If Crimson Desert performs well, DLC and multiplayer become logical retention and monetization extensions. If it underperforms, the studio likely shifts resources toward the next titles to protect the portfolio timeline.
Do you want Crimson Desert to stay a premium single player focused experience, or would optional multiplayer and story DLC make it a stronger long term package if Pearl Abyss executes it with quality?
