Crimson Desert Enhanced Edition gets a surprise demo on PlayStation and Xbox, lets you play for 5 hours and carry over your save data
Pearl Abyss has made the first five hours of Crimson Desert free to try on PlayStation 5 and Xbox, giving more players a chance to sample the game as the studio releases its first DLC, Charting the Unknown. The limited trial may help people decide whether to buy the game, and progress carries over if they do.
The trial runs from 29 October to 6 January. On PS5 it is available to PlayStation Plus Premium and Deluxe subscribers; on Xbox it is open to all players, with no paid subscription required. It covers the base game, and the five-hour limit cannot be restarted with another save. Crimson Desert has sold more than six million copies in three months, and a Switch 2 version is in development.
In short
- Crimson Desert offers a free five-hour trial on PS5 and Xbox.
- The trial is available until 6 January.
- Progress carries over if you buy the full game.
Explained simply
Pearl Abyss is a South Korean game studio that makes and publishes video games. Crimson Desert is its large, single-player adventure game, set in a fictional world where players explore and take part in battles.
A playable trial lets people try part of a game before deciding whether to buy it. Access can depend on the console and subscription: PlayStation Plus Premium and Deluxe are paid tiers, while Xbox players can usually play online without a paid subscription.
Save data records a player’s progress. When a trial carries progress over, someone who buys the full game can continue from where they left off.