Pearl Abyss says AI-made Crimson Desert art slipped into the final game by mistake

Pearl Abyss says some AI-generated art made it into Crimson Desert at launch, and the studio is now auditing the game’s assets and replacing the affected pieces in future patches.

The issue came up after players shared screenshots of suspicious paintings and signs from the game online. In a statement, Pearl Abyss said some 2D visual props were created early in development using experimental generative AI tools, with the expectation that they’d be swapped out later. According to the studio, that didn’t fully happen, and some of those assets were “unintentionally included” in the final release.

Pearl Abyss also admitted it should have disclosed the AI use more clearly. That matters because Steam requires developers to disclose AI-generated content on store pages. Crimson Desert’s Steam listing reportedly did not include that disclosure before the studio responded to the situation, though that has now been updated.

For now, the developer says it’s doing a full review of in-game assets and will replace anything affected in upcoming patches. It also said it’s reviewing its internal process around asset checks and how it communicates this kind of thing to players.

Crimson Desert launched on March 19. The open-world action RPG has had a mixed critical response so far, with combat getting some praise while other parts of the game, including the story and overall structure, have drawn a more divided reaction.

Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is. AI assets will be used in games in the future. It’s inevitable. Might as well get used to it.