Powers calls the early Crimson Desert announcement a mistake

Will Powers said Pearl Abyss showed Crimson Desert too early, more than six years before release. Over that time the plan changed: a prequel to Black Desert Online became a single-player open world, while the studio was also writing its own engine.

Long trailers, he said, left some people feeling the project was too good to be true. The studio’s answer is long press sessions and extended gameplay, not a new stack of promises.

Powers describes the job as a balance between attention and not inflating expectations. The test is the 19 March 2026 launch.