The biggest single-player game released this year, or at least so far (looking at your grand theft car 6), is the Crimson Desert. The latest creation of Black Desert pearl abyss developers, crimson desertis a large-scale open world game set in the same universe as its previous game.
On its first day, the game managed to reach almost 240,000 simultaneous players. Loaded with a mix of positive and negative reviews, both on Metacritic and on game outlets In general, the flood of players seeking to conquer the continent of Pywel.
Article continues below.
At least that’s what I thought was going to happen.
Pearl Abyss apologizes
Early on Sunday, March 22, Pearl Abyss took to X to apologize to players for the misuse of AI on generated assets. To begin with, Pearl Abyss took the blame for the issue and stated that these assets were only intended for the development phase.
“We would like to address questions about the use of AI in Crimson Desert.
During development, some 2D visual props were created as part of the initial iteration using experimental generative AI tools. These assets helped us quickly explore tone and atmosphere in the early stages of production. However, it has always been our intention that such assets be replaced, following final work and review by our art and development teams, with work that aligns with our standards of quality and creative direction.
Following feedback from our community, we have identified that some of these assets were inadvertently included in the final version. “This does not conform to our internal standards and we take full responsibility for this.”
We would like to address questions about the use of AI in Crimson Desert. During development, some 2D visual props were created as part of the initial iteration using experimental generative AI tools. These assets helped us quickly explore the tone and atmosphere in the previous…March 22, 2026
They subsequently admit that they should have previously disclosed their use of AI and promise to replace affected assets:
“We also recognize that we should have clearly disclosed our use of AI. While these tools were primarily used during initial production, with the expectation that these assets would be replaced before launch, we recognize that this does not excuse a lack of transparency.
We sincerely apologize for these oversights.
We are currently conducting a comprehensive audit of all game assets and are taking steps to replace any affected content. The updated assets will be implemented in upcoming patches. In parallel, we are reviewing and strengthening our internal processes to ensure greater transparency and consistency in the way we communicate with players in the future.”
Are you really sorry or are you stuck in the cookie jar?
I’ve had the opportunity to observe many conversations on social media about this apology and, like the criticism, the responses have been all over the place.
On the one hand, there are some apologists who have gone beyond the ridiculous, saying that their use of AI was not a problem at all. I feel that delving into the reasons why replacing art entirely with the use of AI is a horrible idea is best saved for the hundreds of articles already written about it.
Then the other one, where people berate them for apologizing solely because they got caught. Maybe there is a middle ground to all this?
Take a look at Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33. Another example of a game that was released a year ago, where the game’s assets were discovered to have been generated by AI. Once seen by the masses, Sandfall Interactive quickly fixed the affected textures.
Later that summer, Sandfall admitted to using Gen-AI in the early stages of development, but it was quickly replaced. The producer of Darklight, François Meurisseeven, told EL PAÍS“We use some AI, but not a lot.
So when it comes to Crimson Desert, why aren’t we as receptive to the idea that a developer used Gen-AI in a similar way? Is this a case of people choosing their favorites or is there more to the story?
What I can say is that the story and the quests have not helped the discussion. Many have asked if these missions were also generated through AI, which I can understand to some extent, but at the same time I disagree.
I’ve played a few Korean-style MMOs, and while Crimson Desert isn’t an MMO, you can never take away the DNA of an MMO from an MMO developer. These early missions, good or not, seem designed to introduce gameplay systems above anything else. To hell with history, games like lost arkThrone and Liberty had equally fun “bad” stories.
Another mark of shame for the developer comes in the form of a Spanish version. shared by Copacolondrios in
🔴The Spanish translation of the game is completely broken 🔴Completely changes some quest texts, skills and challenges, making them impossible to complete in Spanish, these are not minor translation errors, they are breaking the game, fix it! @WillJPowers @CrimsonDesert_ pic.twitter.com/8h1UedVyvQMarch 22, 2026
As you can see from the images above and a quick Google Translate, “Walk 10m with a rope” is not the same as “Walk 10m with the hook arrow.” Did Pearl Abyss use AI in Crimson Desert for the Spanish translation?
What do you think of the use of AI in Crimson Desert? Let me know in the comments below! Eager to hear what others have to say.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your ideas and discuss our latest news, reviews and more.
