Two anonymous Pearl Abyss developers have claimed that Crimson Desert's development suffered from poor management and feature bloat. The allegations, shared on the Blind forum, describe an inverted hierarchy and leaders dismissive of differing views. The posts have gained traction on Korean social media.
Two developers from Pearl Abyss, posting anonymously on Blind—a platform requiring identity verification—have described a chaotic development process for Crimson Desert. The claims, machine-translated from Korean, highlight an environment marked by an 'inverted management hierarchy' with more leaders than rank-and-file staff, according to one poster who said they had been on the team for a long time and has since left the company. They stated, 'management don't acknowledge anyone who doesn't share their exact mindset. They just praise their own work as 'amazing', and whenever they see a reference from here or there that looks good, they just shove it in.' This led to what they called 'a hodgepodge of features crammed together,' resulting in a messy control layout and an 'inevitable' poor outcome. The second post noted that the game 'originally wasn't like this,' with the story finalized only 'right before release.' It alleged a director was ousted in a power struggle, replaced by an art-background general manager who overturned prior work, turning leaders into 'compliant subordinates.' Specific examples included adding a 'sky island' after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's release, incorporating systems from other games without understanding their purpose. The developers said colleagues recognized the issues but felt unable to speak up, and post-release reviews echoed internal complaints, feeling 'bittersweet.' One anticipated blame-shifting onto individuals. The posts have gone viral on Korean social media and were verified by other developers familiar with the studio. Eurogamer has contacted Pearl Abyss for comment. Separately, the company admitted using experimental AI tools for early-stage 2D visual props, planning to replace them before release.