This article was updated by Andrea Trama on March 13, 2026 with new details about Crimson Desert's use of Denuvo DRM from developer Pearly Abyss. First published March 12.
Just a week ahead of launch, developer Pearly Abyss has quietly added Denuvo DRM, a controversial anti-tampering technology, to the PC version. crimson desert. Gamers around the world are eagerly awaiting its release. crimson desertwill officially launch on March 19th for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. However, the addition of Denuvo DRM has many PC users concerned about possible performance issues, especially on older hardware.
It may not be out yet crimson desert It already looks like a strong contender for Game of the Year. What initially began as a sequel to Pearl Abyss' 2015 MMO, black desert onlinewill ultimately be a standalone action-adventure game with a ton of RPG elements, a new setting, and tons of story-driven content for players to immerse themselves in. crimson desert It also boasts an ambitiously large open world. Red Dead Redemption 2 And it's twice the size Skyrimhas become one of the most anticipated titles of the year.
In my eyes, Crimson Desert's vast open world still has one thing left to prove.
Crimson Desert is huge and impressive, but its open world still leaves one question hanging over my head.
Crimson Desert adds Denuvo DRM to PC version
The hype for Pearl Abyss' next title is monumental. crimson desert Ahead of launch, wishlists have already exceeded 2 million. However, PC users were disappointed to discover that the title was equipped with Denuvo DRM, a controversial anti-tampering software. Although the game's Steam page has been live for several months now, Pearl Abyss updated the game's information section with details of Denuvo DRM a week before its scheduled release date (as first spotted by The Gamer). As expected, this has drawn criticism from the community, and many are now cautious about what to do next. crimson desert It runs on your PC. “This was a nail in the coffin for PC players,” one user said, while another responded: “A very, very bad decision.”
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For those who don't know, Denuvo DRM has been a controversial choice for a long time for a variety of reasons. Third-party software is used to protect games from piracy by making it difficult for developers to tamper with them. However, it is often criticized by gamers due to performance issues that may occur from time to time, such as decreased FPS and increased CPU usage. This is not necessarily a problem with Denuvo, but may be due to poor implementation on the developer side. In the past, online inspections have sparked controversy. Players do not need a persistent internet connection, but there have been instances in the past where gamers have been unable to play single-player titles due to server outages.
It's worth noting that after reaching out to Pearly Abyss for comment on Crimson Desert's use of Denuvo DRM, Forbes' Paul Tassi shared a post on Twitter about the issue. The full tweet follows, but the gist of it is that it won't affect the benchmark video and performance specs since it was done on a Denuvo already running Denuvo.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Pearl Abyss has caused controversy ahead of 'October 1, 2019'. crimson desertRelease of . The developer showed the world plenty of gameplay footage in a new trailer, but fans were skeptical about its potential performance on consoles, especially PS5. Although the hype for the title is at an all-time high, many people felt that Pearl Abyss was “hiding” something. crimson desertPS5 performance. The speculation prompted a response from one of the game's developers, who said he was “tired of repeating things.” [themselves]“Details regarding console performance will arrive prior to launch.
Of course. crimson desertThe PS5's performance modes were revealed earlier this week, confirming three modes for the console. Performance is 1080p at 60FPS, balance is upscaled to 4K resolution at 40FPS, and quality is once again upscaled to 4K at 1440p at 30FPS with high ray tracing. Those using the PlayStation 5's more powerful Pro console will get better performance. crimson desertQuality mode outputs native 4K resolution at 30FPS and ultra ray tracing.
- released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Age 17 or older / Blood, drug-related, high-intensity violence, verbal abuse
- developer
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Pearl Abyss
- publisher
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Pearl Abyss
