If a Red Dead Redemption 2 veteran ends up genuinely speechless in front of your open world, you’re usually doing something right. Still, Mike York, a former animator at Rockstar New England, isn’t fully convinced all those moving parts will ultimately click together.
We’re a little over a month away from the launch of one of 2026’s most ambitious releases: Crimson Desert. Pearl Abyss is pitching an open-world mix of action, adventure, stealth, sci-fi, and pretty much every other flavor the studio wants to throw into the pot, and it’s set to arrive on March 19, already drawing attention from both players and developers. This time, one of the people who worked on Red Dead Redemption 2 highlighted just how bold the South Korean team’s vision is – and how striking the game looks.
When you see the word “reaction” paired with “former Red Dead Redemption 2 developer”, plenty of you will already know it’s Mike York. The ex-animator from Rockstar New England in the US, who contributed to GTA V, GTA Online, and Arthur Morgan’s journey, is now a familiar YouTube creator. He doesn’t always lean on his AAA past, but he often draws sharp comparisons and digs into key craft details, especially when he breaks down GTA 6 through a more professional lens.
Crimson Desert Has a Massive World, but It Might Be Trying to Do Too Much
This time, though, York turned his attention to a game many people are already comparing to Red Dead Redemption 2 thanks to its detail work and the scale of its open world. In a video titled “A Game Developer’s Reflections on Crimson Desert’s Combat and Progression”, he said he was impressed by the beauty of the world Pearl Abyss has built and by just how huge the studio’s ambition is. In purely comparative terms, it’s even being claimed that the open world is roughly twice the size of Skyrim’s and slightly larger than Red Dead Redemption 2’s full map.
At the same time, York also pointed to an issue that has followed the project ever since it was revealed: there’s simply too much happening on-screen, with too many systems running at once, which makes him question whether the game can be polished enough for its March release. “There’s a lot going on here, and I wonder if it will ultimately pay off, if the game will be polished and ready to launch,” he said.
Even with those concerns, he stayed positive about the fundamentals. For him, the core question Pearl Abyss needs to answer is whether the game is genuinely fun to play, because hitting that mark alone would make the whole effort feel like a success. While he thinks some mechanics still look undercooked and could drag down the overall experience, he sees a strong foundation and believes several of the ideas on display could be “a lot of fun” once people get hands-on.
For now, what does seem certain is that Crimson Desert isn’t being pushed back. The South Korean studio behind Black Desert announced last January that the game had gone gold, meaning the main development work is finished. From there, these last months before launch are being used for polish and improvements, including performance and the project’s overall quality.
Source: GryOnline
