If given an entire day to expound on the many controversies surrounding Crimson Desert, I still wouldn’t have enough time. The internet has seen fit to target Peal Abyss’ new single-player RPG as its target for simultaneous unjustified criticism and praise, leading to much derision among fans and an unhealthy amount of speculative discourse that will forever haunt Crimson Desert’s launch, no matter how good it is. Frankly, I’m a little tired of it, even if it is my job to somewhat contribute to it, albeit in a constructive manner, and I’m excited for the day that discourse evolves to be a little more nuanced.
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However, that being said, there is genuine controversy surrounding a key part of Crimson Desert’s release that is actually worth discussing. Amongst the endless bickering about whether Crimson Desert will indeed run on the base PS5 model, or if its cavalcade of gameplay systems will live up to the hype, was the revelation that Crimson Desert doesn’t work out of the box. Its physical release has a major flaw, one that is becoming an increasingly worrying trend that could spell disaster for collectors and those who merely enjoy owning the things they pay top dollar for.
Crimson Desert’s Physical Disc Still Requires A Digital Download
In 2026, it feels as if complaining about the abysmal state of physical media, especially in relation to video games, is a lost cause. While there’s clear evidence that physical media isn’t dead, and Nintendo continues to be a big proponent of the soon-to-be archaic format, people appear to be fairly content with moving on. Of course, I won’t generalize; there are still a lot of consumers who want to actually own the products they buy and collectors who enjoy showcasing their library on an LED-lit shelf. However, with physical sales trending downward and digital media dominating the charts (not to mention the rise in cloud gaming), it’s hard to argue that people care as much as they once did when it comes to getting a disc in a box.
This is almost certainly why studios like Pearl Abyss feel they can get away with putting an incomplete disc in a box, rather than the entire product. Crimson Desert, a game that’s set to be over 150 GB on PC, would never have fit on one PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X disc at launch. Its ridiculous file size necessitates the use of two Blu-ray discs, something that has been done in the past for titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. However, Crimson Desert isn’t on two discs. Instead, if you shell out $70 for the physical version of it, you’ll get a bit of the game on the disc and will need to download the rest via an update in addition to any day-one patch.
Naturally, those purchasing Crimson Desert digitally won’t be affected and thus have no real stake in the fight. However, for the rest of us, this poses a huge problem. Not only does this mean that Crimson Desert simply won’t work out of the box and thus requires an online connection in order to download the rest of the experience, but you still technically don’t own the game you’ve bought. Sure, the game can be enjoyed offline once you’ve completed the initial update, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that said update is mandatory regardless. There’s little differentiating the physical and digital versions of Crimson Desert at this point beyond a bit of plastic and some nice cover art.
Crimson Desert’s Pointless Physical Edition Showcases A Worrying Trend
Of course, one could argue that the huge PlayStation Pro update affecting Crimson Desert, alongside the numerous major changes in the day-one patch, render a physical disc incomplete regardless of whether it requires an additional download. That is absolutely true, as had Crimson Desert been released on two discs, it would likely be an outdated version sent to print long before Pearl Abyss had finished ironing out the major kinks associated with performance. However, as much as this argument is undeniably true, it is itself symptomatic of the wider problem that has led to Crimson Desert’s half-baked physical edition in the first place.
This shift away from physical media has been a worrying trend for quite some time, with several major publishers and studios ostensibly writing off all boxed copies of future games. While some have still vowed to continue supporting the format, Xbox’s abandoning of physical media alongside the increased reliance on day-one patches has ensured that, eventually, they’ll be rendered completely redundant. There’s no turning back from this, at least not at a large scale, as unlike vinyls in the music industry, the quality of a boxed product doesn’t differ from that of the digital one. Considering that the inserts and manuals that once defined physical video game media are very much a thing of the past, there’s no incentive to see physical games make a resurgence in the same way as there was for vinyls.
Crimson Desert, arguably one of the biggest games of 2026 and a title that is likely to generate millions, if not tens of millions of sales, releasing a barebones physical product is merely another nail in an already well-buried coffin. It is a sad state of affairs, but one that, unless for some bizarre reason the entire industry suddenly rallies behind physical media once more, is unlikely to change. I would love to see boxed copies continue to be stocked on shelves in both game stores and supermarkets, to see people proud of their physical media, and, most importantly, have everyone truly own the products they buy, rather than rent a digital license. However, as Crimson Desert has proven, that is a whimsical and seemingly unattainable fantasy as distant as its digital world of Pywel.
What do you think about Crimson Desert’s half-baked physical edition? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in theย ComicBook Forum!
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