Pearl Abyss America just confirmed that the upcoming open-world action-adventure game Crimson Desert will have a premium price tag but will not have a cosmetic cash shop or microtransactions.
A Massive Open World Without A Catch
Crimson Desert is due to release on March 19th and will be priced at the routine $69.99. The game is set within the confines of a massive yet seamless open world, which will be jam-packed with enemies, NPCs, and various adventures to get lost in. The world map, as it stands, will feature five distinct regions: Hernand, Pailune, Demeniss, Delesyia, and the Crimson Desert. And Players will be free to explore this world as they see fit, with no real limitations on exploration. And as players progress through the story, it was recently confirmed by Pearl Abyss that two additional playable characters can be unlocked. Each of these characters will also have unique combat styles, skills, and weapons.
Over recent months, the slow drip feed of just how expansive this open world is has fans wondering if there is a catch to this all or not. Given the state of most modern games, buzzwords like battle pass or microtransactions often plague the space. But it was recently confirmed via an interview on the Dropped Frames weekly talk show that this is not the case. Within this interview, Will Powers, director of marketing at Pearl Abyss America, gave an insider perspective on why the developers opted for a premium price tag versus going free-to-play.
“This is made to be a premium experience that you buy and you enjoy the world, and not something for microtransactions.” Powers continued, “It’s a monetization model. If you do free-to-play, then you need to make up the revenue in a different way. This is a premium experience. That is the transaction. Full stop”
Hearing this news, one could easily be taken back to the days when games just shipped to consumers and worked. Powers also went on to state that the sheer size of this map dwarves the playable areas found within Skyrim or even Red Dead Redemption 2. But he went on to stress the point that map size doesn’t really matter. In the end, if there isn’t anything to do within the map, those lofty ambitions are meaningless.
Potential Game of The Year?
Things are looking increasingly optimistic for Crimson Desert and could be a breath of fresh air in the polluted landscape of gaming. With every gameplay deep dive we get from Pearl Abyss, it is truly astonishing to see that there is always something new to discover in Crimson Desert. But by offering up a truly expansive open world with tons to do, Crimson Desert could easily climb up the charts and go on to be a heavy contender in the game of the year discussion.
