Crimson Desert’s AI-Generated Assets Were “Unintentionally Included,” Says Pearl Abyss

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Look, I was already a little worried about Crimson Desert with the reviews being so mixed and people complaining about how clunky the controls are. But then finding out they used AI-generated assets? That just made things way worse! I’m talking extra limbs on characters and some seriously messed up looking horses. It really upset a lot of us fans, and even people who weren’t planning on buying the game are now turned off. It’s just a bad look all around.

Pearl Abyss has addressed the situation, and their explanation is much like Sandfall Interactive’s regarding Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. They stated that during the game’s initial development, some 2D art assets were created using AI tools as part of the design process.

We used these initial materials to quickly experiment with the game’s mood and style during early development. But we always planned to replace them with polished assets that met our quality goals and artistic vision, after feedback from our art and development teams. This seems similar to what Larian Studios tried with Divinity before negative reactions led them to change course.

We acknowledge that some assets were mistakenly included in the final release and weren’t replaced with Pearl Abyss content as intended. We don’t meet our own quality standards when this happens, and we are fully accountable.

The game developer also faced criticism for not revealing they used AI tools, a violation of Steam’s rules. They admitted they should have been upfront about it. They explained the tools were mostly used early in development, with plans to replace those assets before release, but they understand that doesn’t justify the lack of openness. They offered a sincere apology for this oversight.

Pearl Abyss is currently checking all in-game items and will replace anything found to be problematic. These changes will come in future updates, though they don’t have a specific timeline yet. They’re also working on improving how they communicate with players to be more open and consistent in the future.

Prior to recent events, the game studio had a very successful launch, selling two million copies on the first day. Although the game reached a peak of around 239,000 concurrent players on Steam, player numbers have increased over the weekend to approximately 243,947.

Crimson Desert is now available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Our review of the PC version highlighted impressive graphics, engaging combat, and fun exploration, though we found the story and writing to be weak.

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2026-03-22 19:47