Is Crimson Desert an RPG? Weird Online Arguments Erupt as Dev Refuses to Call It One

We’re exactly one month away from Crimson Desert releasing on PS5, and for many, it’s ended up being one of the most anticipated titles of 2026 so far.

But is it an RPG? This is apparently the question that’s now plaguing Crimson Desert discourse, with arguments taking place across social media over the last day or so.

We’ve seen it all before, of course. The categorisation of a video game can bring out some weirdly passionate opinions, but we do think Crimson Desert’s case is quite interesting.

That’s because developer Pearl Abyss outright refuses to call it an RPG, despite the game clearly having so much in common with basically any open world RPG you can think of.

In fact, there was a time, not long after Crimson Desert was first announced, when we referred to the title as an “open world RPG” in a headline.

Shortly after the article was published, we were actually sent an email from the game’s PR team, specifically stating that it’s not an RPG, and should be described as an open world “adventure” instead.

Since then, we’ve always wondered why Pearl Abyss is so against the idea of calling it an RPG, and as mentioned, the whole topic has erupted again thanks to recent previews and interviews.

According to IGN, a summarising social media post from @SynthPotato seems to have sparked the debate. It’s another case of the developer stressing the point, highlighting the fact that Crimson Desert doesn’t have experience points and character level ups — and therefore can’t be considered an RPG.

But the counterargument is that it does have stats, equipment, loot, side quests, skill trees, and entire crafting systems. Basically, stuff that pretty much anyone would associate with a modern take on the genre.

The theory, then, is that Pearl Abyss is simply covering its arse and attempting to keep expectations in check — which is fair enough. It could just be that it doesn’t want players going into Crimson Desert expecting some in-depth role-playing fantasy like you’d find in Baldur’s Gate 3 or The Witcher 3.

Still, people are arguing on both sides. Meanwhile, we’re just sitting here hoping that the game actually fulfils its potential — RPG or not.

What’s your take on all of this? Would you hesitate to call Crimson Desert and RPG, or is Pearl Abyss hamstringing itself for no real reason? Try to make sense of it all in the comments section below.