You’ll have to wait two more weeks to set sail again in Crimson Desert. On 30 September, Pearl Abyss announced that Charting the Unknown, the game’s first story expansion, has slipped from 15 to 29 October. The studio says it needs more time to deliver a more polished and stable experience. The delay is short, and the announced content is unchanged: sailing, underwater exploration and new stories are all still on the menu. Anyone who pre-ordered keeps their bonus.
At a glance
Charting the Unknown now launches on 29 October at 10pm UK time, instead of the original 15 October date.
Pearl Abyss says the extra time is about shipping a more polished, more stable expansion.
The expansion costs £19.99 on Steam and is still up for pre-order on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
Why Crimson Desert is delaying Charting the Unknown
The game’s team posted the news on the expansion’s Steam page and on social media. Pearl Abyss writes: “we have determined that we need additional development time to deliver a more polished and stable gameplay experience.” The studio has therefore pushed the release back by two weeks, to 29 October.
The message ends with an apology to players, whom the team calls Greymanes, after the game’s mercenary company. Pearl Abyss promises to use the extra time to refine the content and give it everything it has. The announcement keeps the full planned content of the Crimson Desert expansion, which will therefore arrive complete on 29 October.
The new release times
Pearl Abyss published regional release times alongside the delay. In Europe, Charting the Unknown goes live on Thursday 29 October at 10pm GMT, which is 11pm in central Europe. In North America, it lands the same day at 3pm Pacific time. Players in Asia will have to wait until 7am on Friday 30 October, Seoul and Tokyo time.
Pre-orders are still open with the same bonus, which includes a diving set for Kliff and Oongka and a lighter version of that gear for Damiane. On Steam, the Crimson Desert expansion is listed at £19.99 in the UK. The Hitbox Magazine release calendar has been updated with the new date.
The new date puts the expansion in a crowded week. Phantom Blade Zero and The Wolf Among Us Remastered are also due out on 29 October, according to the official dates gathered in our calendar, and the King’s Field-inspired Queen’s Domain follows a day later. Anyone planning their autumn will have some choices to make, although an expansion for a game you already own is an easier fit than a whole new release.
What the expansion includes
Revealed during Sony’s State of Play in September, the expansion was billed as the first story content for Crimson Desert. VGC laid out the main points at the time. It adds ship-based exploration, underwater discoveries, new enemies and new stories spread across the continent of Pywel.
Four story threads have been mentioned: an ominous presence in the desert, a dangerous political conflict, a journey beyond time and an ancient secret hidden beneath the waves. Players follow Kliff, Oongka and Damiane, the three playable characters. The housing mode is getting an upgrade too, letting you rent and run a range of businesses.
A studio that keeps the updates coming
The delay follows a busy September for patches. Pearl Abyss posted five sets of patch notes on Steam in three weeks, from version 2.01.00 on 4 September to 2.03.02 on 23 September. That steady pace is a big part of how Crimson Desert built its reputation after launch. A set of patch notes roughly every week shows a team still working on the base game alongside the expansion. For players, it also means the expansion should land on a well-maintained foundation.
Seen that way, a two-week delay for an expansion of this size is hardly cause for alarm. The studio clearly prefers to ship something clean over scrambling to fix it after release, and Crimson Desert players have plenty to be getting on with in the meantime, between the base game and its latest updates.
Upcoming release dates and major updates are tracked in our games calendar, which you can filter by platform.