Pearl Abyss turned down a one-year PlayStation exclusive

In an investor report, Pearl Abyss confirmed a rumor that had circulated since 2024: Sony offered to publish and fund Crimson Desert. The condition was one year of console exclusivity for PlayStation, so Xbox would have waited another 12 months, and the PC rights would have gone to Sony.

The studio refused because of PC. It wants to publish its own games and not give up a share plus a second fee. The same explanation cited Stellar Blade: according to the report, Shift Up accepted terms because it could not distribute a game worldwide on its own. Reporters also recalled similar one-year deals discussed around Black Myth: Wukong.

Asked by Eurogamer, the studio repeated that Crimson Desert would be self-published, without attacking its partners. Launch is 19 March 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC at the same time.