I remember opening a thread where players debated paying full price for a wildly recovered game. The argument snapped between excitement and wallet anxiety so fast it felt personal. I sat there thinking: what would I do if you asked me whether to wait for Game Pass?
I write about this stuff for a living, and you deserve a clear answer. I’ll walk you through facts, market signals, and the small clues that tend to predict where big third-party games end up.
Last night a forum blew up over Crimson Desert’s $70 tag — Is Crimson Desert on Game Pass? Everything we know
Short answer: not yet. Crimson Desert is not on Xbox Game Pass, and there has been no official notice that Microsoft and Pearl Abyss have struck a deal.
The game launched on March 19 and has already sold more than four million copies. Its price sits a weathered coin in your palm, heavy with history. You’re seeing a studio that recovered reputation and sales after a rough introduction; that recovery matters when platform holders decide whether to pay for placement.
Is Crimson Desert on Game Pass?
Pearl Abyss is independent and not part of Microsoft’s first-party lineup, so Game Pass inclusion has to be negotiated like any third-party arrangement. Microsoft has a track record of paying for big third-party additions: CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 joined Game Pass on March 10, five years after launch, while Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 arrived after only about a year on the market.
Those two deals show the timetable can wildly vary. Publishers weigh guaranteed payday vs. long-term catalogue value. You should assume Pearl Abyss will at least consider a Game Pass deal if the numbers make sense.
When might Crimson Desert come to Game Pass?
Deals like this often follow a pattern: strong initial sales, visibility on console storefronts, then a negotiation window. If Microsoft and Pearl Abyss follow the slower example set by big recoveries, a Game Pass appearance could plausibly happen by early 2027 — or later if Pearl Abyss prefers more direct sales while momentum holds.
Pearl Abyss is a slow-burning fuse steering toward whichever platform offers the best return. That means PlayStation Plus is also a real possibility: Sony already has established relationships with many Korean developers and could bundle the title into a PlayStation promotional window or subscription tier.
Will Crimson Desert come to PlayStation Plus instead of Game Pass?
Yes, it’s possible. Pearl Abyss remains heavily invested in PC and MMO communities (Steam and standalone PC distribution are core to their model), but platform-specific deals can and do happen. If Sony offers a strong marketing push or financial terms that beat Microsoft’s, PlayStation Plus could host the game first, or it could appear on both services at staggered times.
Right now, your choices are straightforward: buy on Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation, or Steam, or wait and see. The $70 price tag (≈€65) is steep for some; the trade-off is a full retail release with updates and DLC potential that keeps value high for the long run.
What I advise: if you prize immediate access and want to support Pearl Abyss’s continued updates, buy. If you’re budget-conscious and willing to wait through the deal cobwebs, Game Pass or PlayStation promotions often arrive later and can be a better value.
Either way, this is a negotiation between a profitable studio and competing subscription platforms — and those negotiations tend to reveal as much about the companies involved as they do about the game’s future. Which side of the bet will you take?