Sony Wanted PS5 Exclusivity for Crimson Desert, But Dev Reportedly Declined 1

Update: An English transcript of Pearl Abyss’ investor relations report has now been shared, shedding more like on Sony’s approach to publish Crimson Desert. As reported previously, the platform holder has been sniffing around South Korean devs, and saw potential in the upcoming RPG. It offered to publish the game in return for console exclusivity, which would have prevented the Xbox version from deploying for a year.

Apparently, the developer found Sony’s “marketing power” and “unique incentives” appealing, but it ultimately decided to self-publish the release. “In a typical contract, 30% of revenue goes to platform fees, and the remaining 70% is split between the developer and publisher,” it noted. “Since we already have the capability to self-publish globally and have overseas branches, we concluded that using our own resources would be more advantageous.”

The studio pointed out Stellar Blade also signed with Sony, but noted that Shift Up doesn’t have a publishing team, where it does.

It sounds like the game is complete on PC, and it’s now working on optimising the PS5 version. It added that it expects to sell between three and four million units, but it believes that number could rise higher.


Original Article: Sony allegedly tried to buy console exclusivity for Korean developer Pearl Abyss’ upcoming medieval RPG Crimson Desert, but the developer declined. We know based on past reports the Japanese giant had been sniffing around the studio, and it looks like it saw high potential in the project. Apparently, it compared its atmosphere to Ghost of Tsushima, which sold very well for the company.

It seems like the platform holder was unsuccessful in its efforts to bring the title under its umbrella, however. According to a report of the developer’s investor relations (via Google Translate), the firm decided to proceed with self-publishing as it felt it would yield higher profits that way. Obviously, we don’t know how aggressive PlayStation was being with its proposal.

Unlike the Korean studio’s previous title, Black Desert Online, this is a single player release highly inspired by the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The developer is promising a high level of freedom and the ability to influence the outcome of the story depending on the decisions you make.

We went hands on with the game earlier in the year and described it as “real, complex, and potentially great”.

Sony is no stranger to money hats, and so we’re not surprised it pursued a tried-and-tested tactic with Crimson Desert. What’s interesting here is that it was ultimately rebuffed; we wonder how often these kind of discussions breakdown and we don’t hear about it.

[source m.blog.naver.com, via resetera.com]