Crimson Desert Worried PC Gamers with a Change Ahead of Release

Just a week before its release, developer Pearl Abyss quietly added Denuvo DRM, a controversial anti-tampering technology, to the PC version of Crimson Desert.

Crimson Desert sparks controversy with the addition of DRM.

Gamers worldwide have been eagerly awaiting the launch of *Black Desert Online*, scheduled for official release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on March 19th. The game is considered a strong contender for Game of the Year. Initially developed as a prequel to  Black Desert Online  , released in 2015 by Pearl Abyss, it was later transformed into a single-player action-adventure game, adding role-playing elements and a richer storyline.

Crimson Desert also boasts an ambitious open world, said to be larger than Red Dead Redemption 2 and twice the size of Skyrim, making it one of the most anticipated games of the year. Expectations for Pearl Abyss's next project are incredibly high, with the game surpassing 2 million wishlists before its release.

However, PC gamers were disappointed after discovering the game would use Denuvo DRM, a controversial anti-tampering software. Although the game's Steam page had been up for months, Pearl Abyss only updated its information to include details about Denuvo DRM a week before the game's release.

As expected, this move has drawn considerable criticism from the community, leaving many cautious about Crimson Desert's performance on PC. One user commented, "This is the last straw for PC gamers ," while another remarked, "A terrible decision."  Denuvo DRM has long been a controversial choice for many reasons.

This third-party software is used by developers to make it more difficult to modify or interfere with the game, thereby protecting it from piracy. However, it is often criticized by gamers for potentially causing performance issues, such as reduced FPS, increased CPU usage, and other negative effects.

Many people are skeptical about the performance of the PS5.

However, these problems aren't entirely caused by Denuvo; sometimes they stem from optimization issues on the developer's part. Additionally, Denuvo has been controversial due to its online testing mechanism. While players don't always need an internet connection, there have been instances of server failures preventing gamers from playing single-player titles.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first controversy surrounding Pearl Abyss ahead of Crimson Desert's release. Despite the developer showcasing numerous gameplay clips in recent trailers, fans remain skeptical about the game's performance on consoles, particularly the PS5.

Despite high expectations for the game, many believe Pearl Abyss is "hiding" something about Crimson Desert's performance on PS5. These speculations subsequently prompted a response from one of the game's developers, who stated they were "tired of repeating this" and affirmed that details regarding console performance would be revealed before the game's release.

And earlier this week, details about the performance modes of  the PS5 version of Crimson Desert  were revealed, featuring three modes.

• Performance Mode: 1080p resolution at 60 FPS
• Balanced Mode: 4K upscale at 40 FPS
• Quality Mode: 4K upscale from 1440p, high ray tracing, and 30 FPS.

For those who own a PlayStation 5 Pro, Crimson Desert will offer even better performance, as Quality Mode can output native 4K resolution at 30 FPS with ray tracing at Ultra settings.