Crimson Desert: low story completion rates and player engagement

In short

• Only 9.7% of Steam players have completed Crimson Desert’s story.
• The average time to finish the main story is around 69 hours.
• Despite the low completion rates, thousands of players have put more than 200 hours into the game.

Analysis by GAME-scanner

Crimson Desert, released on 14 March 2026, is facing notably low story completion rates. On Steam, only 9.7% of players have finished the story, while the figure stands at 13% on Xbox and 15.2% on PlayStation. This raises questions about how accessible and engaging the story is for players. The average time to complete the main story is 69 hours, which is a significant time investment for many players. That may be one factor behind the low completion rates, especially for casual gamers who may not be willing to sink that much time into a single game.

What does this mean for players?

Low completion rates can point to a number of issues, such as a lack of story engagement or a difficulty curve that is too steep. For players looking for an immersive experience, that can be discouraging. It’s also possible that the open world and side quests are pulling players away from the main story, leading to lower completion. This could prompt developer Pearl Abyss to reconsider its approach to storytelling and gameplay structure in future updates or DLC. The median percentage of players who earned the ‘Expert Storyteller’ badge is just 12.6%, further underlining concerns about engagement.