Sony Japan has uploaded a video showcasing roughly 20 minutes of Crimson Desert running on a base model PlayStation 5 and it looks to run as well as was promised in the official spec sheet.
According to the official performance estimates from developer Pearl Abyss, the base PlayStation 5 will run the open-world action title at 60 frames per second in 1080p in Performance Mode and up to upscaled 4K at 30fps in the game’s Quality Mode. Based on the framerate of the video being exhibited, the game looks to be set in Quality mode.
Representatives from Pearl Abyss have spoken before about the effort the studio put into optimizing Crimson Desert, and it appears to have paid off. The gameplay footage largely maintains 30 frames per second throughout, with only very slight, very rare drops when the screen is busy.
A recent benchmark and analysis by Digital Foundry praised the developers for the game’s visuals and excellent performance, but crucially, those tests were conducted on the more powerful PlayStation 5 Pro. This new Sony Japan video is the first gameplay video of Crimson Desert that is confirmed to be running on the base PlayStation 5. In 2025, the Pro model only accounted for about 13% of all PlayStation 5 sales in the US, so for the vast majority of PS5 owners, this new footage should more accurately illustrate their experience when playing the game.
Crimson Desert launches March 19 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
