Pearl Abyss, the company behind the game Crimson Desert, has explained and apologized for using AI-generated assets in the finished game without initially disclosing it. Players quickly noticed these assets after the game launched, but Pearl Abyss states they were unintended and not meant to be visible.
Originally conceived as a backstory to the online game Black Desert Online, Crimson Desert evolved over six to seven years into its own unique single-player action-adventure game. It’s set in a large, medieval fantasy world and quickly became popular, selling two million copies on its first day. Despite some feedback regarding the controls and how well it runs, it currently has a 75% positive rating on Steam and a score of 90 from players on OpenCritic.
Crimson Desert’s Dev Team Explains Generative AI Usage
A potential issue has emerged that could affect the popularity of the new game Crimson Desert: the developers, Pearl Abyss, used AI to create some of its visual elements. Shortly after the game launched on March 19th, players noticed odd details in paintings – like horses appearing to merge with their riders and unsettling images of animals – and raised concerns. Pearl Abyss has since admitted to using AI tools to generate some 2D props, but claims these were only intended as temporary placeholders and weren’t supposed to be in the final game. The company says this doesn’t meet their quality standards and they are taking responsibility for the mistake.
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Pearl Abyss has apologized to its players for not being upfront about using AI tools in the development of its game, Crimson Desert. The company admits that even though these tools were mainly used in the early stages with the intention of replacing the AI-generated content before release, they should have been more transparent. Pearl Abyss hasn’t specified exactly what was created using AI, but they’re conducting a thorough review of the game and will replace any AI-created assets with updates.
The game Crimson Desert isn’t alone in facing criticism for accidentally including AI-generated content. In June 2025, the developers of The Alters, 11 Bit Studios, admitted to a similar issue. They discovered an AI-generated image used as a temporary placeholder made it into the final game, and also revealed they used AI for translation to meet the launch deadline. This translation was for recreational movies created by a comedy group, and they hadn’t received the translations in time otherwise. Like Pearl Abyss, the studio stated the inclusion was an oversight.
As a gamer, I’ve been hearing a lot of debate about AI in games, and honestly, it’s a pretty big issue for a lot of us. Some people feel any use of AI ruins the artistic side of things – they worry it takes away the human touch and could even mean fewer jobs for talented developers. I get that! But others think AI could actually be helpful if used carefully, maybe to handle some of the more repetitive tasks so developers can focus on the really creative stuff. Whatever happens, it’s clear AI is already here. A recent report showed that about 20% of games released on Steam in the first half of 2025 used generative AI during development, which is pretty wild to think about.
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2026-03-23 00:08