Crimson Desert Plans DLC, Switch 2 Port, and Multiplayer Research

A Roadmap Built on Real Momentum

Crimson Desert has had one of the stronger action RPG launches in recent memory, and Pearl Abyss is not exactly playing it cool about what comes next. In the South Korean developer’s latest financial letter, the studio detailed a wide-ranging follow-up strategy covering DLC, a Nintendo Switch 2 port, multiplayer research, and early talk of potential sequels.

The numbers give context to the confidence. Crimson Desert launched on March 19 and pulled in approximately $178.8 million (KRW 266.5 billion) in just a couple of weeks, according to Pearl Abyss. More than 80% of those sales came from North America and Europe. The game crossed 6 million copies sold in under three months.

The second quarter (April through June 2026) was quieter by design. Pearl Abyss said it focused on content optimization rather than major expansions during that stretch, and revenue settled to approximately $96.3 million (KRW 136.1 billion). The game moved around 2.11 million copies in the period, with digital making up 82% of that. Combined, the two quarters put Crimson Desert past a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue in just over three months. Pearl Abyss projected the game will ultimately land between approximately $332 million and $352 million in total revenue.

First DLC Arriving This Year, Details Still Forming

The most immediate item on the roadmap is the first DLC, which Pearl Abyss confirmed is in development and scheduled to release before the end of 2026. An announcement is expected sometime before September 30, as the studio targets a third-quarter reveal. Pearl Abyss described its current focus as refining “content direction and overall quality.”

What that DLC actually contains is still an open question. Players who have pushed past the game’s intended boundaries have reportedly found unused content scattered across the map. There is also a named region called Sunbaked Peaks that players can see but not reach. Pearl Abyss has not confirmed what the DLC covers, but the geography is suggestive.

The studio was careful to temper expectations about the broader DLC schedule. “Plans regarding the total number of DLCs and their release cadence have not yet been finalized,” Pearl Abyss wrote, noting that future releases will depend on user feedback, sales trends, and internal resources. One DLC at a time, essentially.

Switch 2, Multiplayer, and the Long Game

On the hardware side, Pearl Abyss confirmed the Switch 2 version of Crimson Desert is further along than one might expect, saying it has “reached a playable baseline.” The studio is now in technical review for performance and quality, targeting a release in the first half of 2027. Pearl Abyss framed porting the game as a genuine technical challenge rather than a box-checking exercise, noting that preserving the game’s graphics, combat, and open-world fidelity on each new platform is the primary requirement.

The most forward-looking piece of the announcement involves multiplayer. Pearl Abyss said it is conducting “extensive research” on potential multiplayer modes for Crimson Desert. No specifics were shared. Given that Pearl Abyss built its reputation on Black Desert Online, a massively multiplayer RPG, the idea of the studio eventually folding online elements into Crimson Desert is not a stretch. For now, it reads as early-stage exploration rather than an announcement.

The studio also mentioned plotting potential sequels, though Pearl Abyss stopped well short of formal sequel news. With a game still climbing through its first year of post-launch content, that conversation is clearly a longer-term one.

What is more immediate is the DLC reveal window. Pearl Abyss has less than seven weeks to make that announcement before September runs out, which means more concrete Crimson Desert news should be coming fairly soon.