Pearl Abyss is offering a free five-hour trial of the fantasy RPG. Available on Xbox without a subscription; on PS5 with a PS Plus Premium subscription.
Crimson Desert is one of the most successful releases of 2026. The game sold over 6 million copies in just three months. This massive financial success even prompted the publisher to pay every single employee at the development studio Pearl Abyss a bonus of $3,400. Since launch, the team has been hard at work on improvements, ironing out some of the biggest glitches that had caused frustration at launch.
Try Crimson Desert Enhanced Edition
A good half-year after its release—and buoyed by a whopping 419 percent increase in sales—the studio now apparently wants to bring everyone who’s missed out on the game so far on board. And it’s completely free: To coincide with the release of the previously delayed DLC “Charting the Unknown,” which launched yesterday, Pearl Abyss is offering a free trial of the first five hours of gameplay for (almost) everyone on Xbox and PlayStation.
The free trial runs from October 29 through January 6. On PlayStation 5, however, you’ll need an active PlayStation Plus Premium or Deluxe subscription. Xbox players have it easier: Here, you can get started within the Xbox ecosystem without needing a paid subscription. The trial version includes only the base game, Crimson Desert Enhanced (let’s be honest: you wouldn’t have been able to get through all the content in “Charting the Unknown” in such a short time anyway).
If you decide to purchase the game afterward, all your progress will carry over seamlessly to the full version. Once the five hours are up, however, that’s it. You can’t trick the timer by simply creating a new save file—once it’s up, it’s up.
“Charting the Unknown” is just the first DLC for the fantasy sandbox RPG—more content is likely to follow. At the same time, the team is already working on a version for the Switch 2. The developers have also hinted at future multiplayer DLCs as well as a full-fledged sequel to the hit game. If you want to experience for yourself why this adventure took the gaming world by storm earlier this year, you can launch the free trial on your console right now.
