Pearl Abyss Europe CEO Says Critics Had Too Little Time to Explore Crimson Desert’s World, Potentially Explaining Lower Scores Than Players

Crimson Desert’s lower review scores were because critics didn’t get a ‘fair chance to explore’, exec says

The press "had limited time" and didn't play the launch version, she says

Pearl Abyss Blames Review Process For Crimson Desert's 77 Metacritic, Yet 6 Million Sales Disagree

By every metric, Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert is a smashing success. Having sold over 6 million copies and generating $427 million in revenue, the Korean developer proved not only that it was more than ready to handle a sprawling single-player open-world game, but also that a development approach that takes player feedback into heavy consideration is the key to success. This is made even more impressive by the fact that the game didn't score well…

Pearl Abyss Europe CEO Says Critics Had Too Little Time to Explore Crimson Desert’s World, Potentially Explaining Lower Scores Than Players

Pearl Abyss Europe CEO Lybee Park believes the gap between critic and player scores for Crimson Desert may partly reflect the conditions under which reviewers played the open-world action-adventure game. In an interview with The Game Business, Park said critics received a version that differed from the final release and had limited time to assess it before reviews were published. She suggested that these restrictions could have affected their im…