Crimson Desert PS5 Players Are Struggling With Blurry Graphics, But You Might Be Able to Fix It

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This article received updates on March 22, 2026, from Andrea Trama, incorporating helpful tips from our community to boost PS5 performance, and including a recent statement from Pearl Abyss. It was originally published on March 21.

Players of Crimson Desert on PlayStation 5, including the PS5 Pro, are noticing the game looks unusually blurry. While it’s unclear how widespread the problem is, the game’s developer, Pearl Abyss, has offered a temporary solution and is working on a permanent fix.

Pearl Abyss, a South Korean game studio, released its second game, Crimson Desert, on PC and consoles on March 19th. Before launch, the studio heavily promoted the game’s stunning graphics, and previews suggested it would be one of the best-looking AAA games in years. Because of this, Crimson Desert is expected to be a very demanding game for PCs. While console players usually don’t experience performance issues as much, a noticeable technical problem appeared in the initial release of the game.

Crimson Desert PS5 Version Has an Issue in 120Hz Mode

Shortly after its launch, players began reporting performance problems with Crimson Desert on the PS5, primarily on social media and the official Pearl Abyss Discord server. Many complained that the game’s graphics appeared unusually blurry, making it difficult to clearly see details. Most of those affected were using the game’s 120Hz mode, and Will Powers, Pearl Abyss’ Marketing Director, believes this setting is the cause. He suggested one player disable 120Hz mode as a potential fix for the blurry graphics.

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Many modern TVs and monitors can display images 120 times per second (a 120Hz refresh rate), but not all of them can do so at the same time as showing a detailed 4K picture. Whether this is a problem depends on the game you’re playing. The PlayStation 5 allows players to turn on a 120Hz output if their TV or monitor supports that refresh rate, even if it’s at a lower resolution. Most games require you to enable 120Hz within the game’s settings, but Crimson Desert automatically runs at 120Hz when you enable the setting in its video menu. If the game detects your TV needs it, it might lower the picture resolution to maintain that smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

Currently, Crimson Desert doesn’t have an option within the game to switch to 120Hz. To check if the motion blur has been fixed, you need to turn off 120Hz output in your PS5’s settings. You can find this option under Screen and Video > Video Output.

Reports from players of Crimson Desert on PS5 are varied, indicating the visual problem might be complex and not simply caused by one incorrect setting. Some players only noticed blurriness during battles, while others saw low-quality textures at random times. While a few experienced the issue consistently, it wasn’t the case for everyone. In fact, many players reported that the problems didn’t start appearing until they had played for several hours.

How Crimson Desert Approaches Frame Pacing

When played at 120Hz, the PlayStation 5 version of Crimson Desert aims for 40 frames per second to keep the gameplay smooth. It achieves this by displaying each frame three times, which feels much better than 30 frames per second but isn’t as taxing on the system as 60 frames per second. On TVs or monitors that don’t support 120Hz, most games default to 30fps, even if they could run at 40fps. This is because running at 40fps on a 60Hz display can create choppy motion and noticeable stutters.

Pearl Abyss announced on Twitter that they’re working on improving the controls for Crimson Desert. They’re also collecting reports about visual problems on the PS5 to fix them quickly, so players experiencing these issues are encouraged to submit a report through the provided link.

Because Crimson Desert is aiming to be a visually stunning, high-budget game, any problems with how it looks are likely to be noticed quickly by players. It’s particularly concerning that the game appears blurry even on the PlayStation 5, a console the developers specifically worked to optimize for. Pearl Abyss hasn’t said when they’ll fix the blur, but if the solution is as simple as turning off 120Hz mode on incompatible screens, a fix could be released fairly soon.

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2026-03-23 03:14