Pearl Abyss announced on the 27th that its open-world action-adventure title Crimson Desert has been featured by major global outlets—including IGN—as one of the “most anticipated games of 2026.”

IGN, North America’s largest game media outlet, placed Crimson Desert in the spotlight through its flagship “IGN First” program, which offers exclusive coverage of the year’s most anticipated releases. Across six installments, IGN took a focused look at the game’s combat system, open world, quests, and boss battles. IGN said it was deeply impressed by the developers’ intent in having “crafted this deep, multi-layered combat system” and by the team’s “surprising” creative approach, offering high praise for the game’s rich content and combat design.

North American games outlet MMORPG.com selected Crimson Desert as its “Most Anticipated” title for 2026. The ranking was determined by a vote among the publication’s journalists, with more than half of participating writers choosing Crimson Desert. The outlet commented that “every time we finished hands-on demos of different versions—boss fights, the open world, and more—we were disappointed because we wanted to keep playing.”

North American entertainment outlet ComicBook also named Crimson Desert among “the Biggest Open-World Games” of 2026, saying it is packed with exploration highlights such as “breathtaking vistas,” “bustling town,” and “untamed wilds.” The outlet added that it is “a fantasy work whose gameplay and story naturally interlock, leaving a lingering aftertaste even after you put down the controller.”

North American tech outlet Wccftech expressed high expectations as well, stating, “At last, we’ll be able to experience Kliff’s adventure on the vast continent of Pywel this year,” and predicting that “based on what has been shown so far, Crimson Desert will become the best open-world action game of 2026.”

Praise continued from European media. UK tech outlet TechRadar published its list of five major open-world games to watch in 2026, calling Crimson Desert “the most ambitious” among action games released to date, and adding that for action-game fans it could become a “dream game” where they can experience elements drawn from multiple masterpieces.

Germany’s largest games outlet GameStar, in its roundup of the most anticipated titles of 2026, highlighted Crimson Desert’s open-world “view distance” as its greatest strength. The outlet also noted that Pearl Abyss’ proprietary BlackSpace Engine “masters all modern features,” including real-time global illumination and ray tracing.

Elsewhere, Spain’s HobbyConsolas selected Crimson Desert as a representative title poised to raise the bar for graphics. Japan’s GameSpark likewise said it was impressed by an open-world experience combining massive battlefields with large numbers of NPCs, and assessed the game as one likely to have a major impact on the 2026 market.

Digital Foundry—a prominent North American YouTuber with 1.5 million subscribers—also selected Crimson Desert as “CES 2026’s best game.” He remarked that Crimson Desert was the most informative demo at the event, adding that it felt “very new and surprising” to see a Korean game studio showcase innovative technology using an in-house engine rather than a commercial one. Citing realistically rendered elements such as the natural environment, he praised the BlackSpace Engine in particular.

Pearl Abyss has been conducting playable demos of Crimson Desert at major game shows around the world, focusing on communicating the game’s level of polish through firsthand, hands-on experience.

Crimson Desert is an open-world action-adventure game set on the vast continent of Pywel, depicting protagonist Kliff and his journey with his Greymanes companions. It is scheduled for a worldwide release on PC and console platforms on March 20 (Korean time). Pre-orders are currently available via the official website, and the game will be available on PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Mac, and the Epic Games Store.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.