Open world sword-swinger Crimson Desert horse-powerslides to a late 2025 release

The sand turns red next year folks

Crimson Desert first galloped onto the scene in 2020, with a bombastic trailer at Gamescom 2023 showcasing some particularly beautiful medieval open world action adventuring. It's got horses, fishing, plate armour and roving heroism, but one thing it lacks is a release date. Now, thanks to The Geoff Awards, that's changed! Well, sort of - Crimson Desert is out sometime in late 2025.

If you're unfamiliar with the game, you play as Kliff who explores the open world of Pywel. In said open world, you battle goblins and medieval people. You ride wyverns. Do some rock climbing, cooking, maybe a puzzle. Apparently there are "aerial Abysses" that promise "endless discovery". Alice Bee (RPS in peace) thought its first showing reminded her of mid-series Assassin's Creed games when "it got a bit silly". What do I think? I think it looks a bit like it's trying to do too much and, quite possibly, will succumb to this, ending in a 6/10 experience for all involved. Huh, that actually sounds quite good - I could do with more middling silliness.

Image credit: Pearl Abyss

Our James gave the game a whirl at this year's Gamescom and wasn't all that impressed by it. While he thought there was some spectacle in what was clearly a fight-oriented demo, said fighting felt "twangy" and "unwieldy" to him. In those brief moments outside of the sword-clanging, he described its exploration as "delightfully madcap", which sounds incredibly appealing. Give his full preview a read here.

You can keep up with Crimson Desert over on its Steam page or the Microsoft Store.

The Geoffening has begun! Catch all the latest Game Awards announcements on our Game Awards 2024 hub page. You can also get the news hot from our liveblog.