Crimson Desert Hits 240K Players But Its Controls Are Taking a Beating From Everyone

Pearl Abyss's Crimson Desert launched to a massive 240,000 concurrent players on PC — a blockbuster debut by any measure. But just 12 hours after release, the game's Steam reviews tell a more complicated story: out of over 13,000 ratings, only about 60% are positive, landing the game squarely in "Mixed" territory. And whether reviewers love or hate the game, they all seem to agree on one thing: the controls are terrible.

A Divisive Launch

The critical consensus mirrors the player divide. Crimson Desert sits at a 78 on Metacritic from 98 reviews, though that score is heavily skewed by some questionable perfect 10s. Even that wasn't enough to keep investors happy — Pearl Abyss's stock took a hit despite the strong player numbers.

The Steam review landscape is its own kind of chaos. A significant chunk of positive reviews are actually written as revenge against critics, with entries like "IGN sucks" constituting entire reviews. Many more are explicitly trying to "counter" a perceived negative narrative. But across both positive and negative reviews, the criticism of the controls is universal. Players describe them as "shockingly bad," "clunky," and in one memorable take, "designed by some creature that doesn't have hands."

One positive reviewer summed it up: "the movement is weird, the game's a bit buggy at times, there are a ton of systems and things to keep in mind, and the story is a bit confusing." Under Accessibility Options, the game only lets you adjust UI scale — not exactly a comprehensive suite.

The 'Riding a Bike' Defense

Pearl Abyss's PR and marketing director Will Powers took to X with what might be the most ill-conceived defense possible, comparing the controls to "riding a bike" — claiming "it comes naturally after you learn it. just takes a minute." The problem is that the "riding a bike" analogy typically means something you return to effortlessly, not something that requires painful learning. What Powers described is more like learning to ride a bike: wobbling, falling, and getting bruised before you can kind of pedal straight.

The first patch (1.00.02) has already rolled out for PC, adding a new tutorial quest and removing "the bear's instant-kill damage." But it makes no mention of control improvements.

Our Take

240K concurrent players is an incredible launch, but the Mixed reviews signal that Pearl Abyss has real work ahead. The controls issue isn't a subjective taste thing — when both fans and detractors unanimously say the controls feel bad, that's a fundamental design problem that needs addressing. The "riding a bike" defense from the marketing director was tone-deaf and dismissive. Pearl Abyss should be acknowledging the problem and committing to improvements, not telling players they're holding it wrong. The game clearly has massive appeal and ambition, but if the basic act of playing it feels clunky, no amount of gorgeous visuals will keep those 240K players coming back.

Key Takeaways

• Crimson Desert peaked at 240,000 concurrent PC players but sits at only 60% positive on Steam (Mixed)
• Controls are universally criticized across both positive and negative reviews
• The game holds a 78 on Metacritic, skewed by several questionable perfect scores
• Pearl Abyss's marketing director compared controls to "riding a bike," drawing further criticism
• First patch removed bear instant-kill damage but didn't address control complaints
• Pearl Abyss stock dropped despite strong concurrent player numbers