Players quickly picked up on environmental props that looked suspiciously AI-generated.
Players diving into Crimson Desert this week quickly found more than just sprawling landscapes and large-scale battles. As the community combed through the open-world title, reports on Reddit began surfacing of suspicious-looking in-game artwork, sparking a wider conversation around AI-generated assets and transparency.
Some of the most striking anomalies spotted in some areas of the game include a battle scene painting where human figures appear to merge into horses, and limbs that dissolve into jagged, stone-like shapes. Other pieces shared on Reddit show swords clashing at impossible angles and an in-game poster or image of what looked like a mage rendered in generic generative AI.
The situation placed the game at odds with Steam’s AI content policy, which requires developers to clearly state any use of generative AI on a game’s store page. While Crimson Desert initially launched without such a disclaimer, an updated disclosure has since been added, stating that “Generative AI technology is used in a supplementary capacity during the creation of some 2D prop assets.”
Pearl Abyss moves to fix AI assets while addressing player feedback and performance issues
A statement released on Crimson Desert’s official X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday (23 March) has addressed the issue.
In the statement, developer Pearl Abyss has now confirmed it is carrying out a “comprehensive” audit of all in-game assets after acknowledging that some AI-generated images made it into the final release without proper disclosure.
Pearl Abyss clarified that these assets were created during early development stages to “rapidly explore tone and atmosphere,” and were intended to be replaced before release. However, some remained in the shipped version.
In a statement, the studio admitted that the AI-generated assets “were unintentionally included in the final release,” and said it “should have clearly disclosed” their use. The company added: “We sincerely apologise for these oversights.”
This marks the second post-launch statement from Pearl Abyss in just a few days. Despite a strong commercial debut having sold selling 2 million copies within 24 hours, the game has faced a mixed reception from players. On Steam, Crimson Desert peaked at nearly 250,000 concurrent players but held s a “mixed” user review rating before it moved up to Mostly Positive, with 77% of players recommending the game.
Much of the feedback centres on gameplay issues, particularly controls described as clunky or overly complicated. Performance concerns have also surfaced, including reports of blurry visuals on both PC and PlayStation 5. Pearl Abyss has already addressed some of these concerns, confirming that a patch is in development to improve controls and apologising to keyboard and mouse players.
With patches on the way and a full asset review underway, Pearl Abyss is now working to steady Crimson Desert’s launch period while addressing both technical issues and concerns around transparency.
