Crimson Desert Explodes at Launch, Secures Massive Twitch Viewership & Steam Numbers

Pearl Abyss’ stocks took a massive hit and dropped nearly 30% following early reviews of Crimson Desert. That’s mostly because the game secured a lower-than-expected score, falling short of the 90+ range that shareholders were reportedly anticipating. The title holds a Metacritic score of 78, based on multiple reviews. Some outlets have rated it highly, while others have been more critical.

Crimson Desert smashes Twitch viewership and Steam numbers despite mixed reviews

That said, Crimson Desert is off to a flying start, at least in terms of early player interest. The game, which launched yesterday across Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC, and Mac (Steam, Epic Games), is reportedly already pulling big numbers across streaming and PC platforms.

As reported by folks at Insider Gaming, Crimson Desert dominated Twitch, as it has become the most-watched title on the platform with close to 500,000 viewers. That’s a significant spike for a new release, especially for a single-player-focused experience. On Steam, the numbers also look solid. According to SteamDB data, at its peak, the title saw nearly 240,000 concurrent players, placing it among the most-played titles on the platform right now.

It is worth noting that the title is holding onto players’ interest despite getting mixed reviews. At the time of writing this, SteamDB data shows that the game has nearly 128,000 concurrent players on Steam.

No doubt, it’s still early days for the title. Strong launch numbers often reflect curiosity and hype, not necessarily sustained engagement. However, high visibility on Twitch and solid player counts on Steam could help the title drive more attention in the coming days.

With big numbers at launch but reviews holding it back, it’ll be interesting to see whether Crimson Desert manages to convert early hype into long-term success.