Crimson Desert is about to get a lot wetter. Pearl Abyss has released a features overview for Charting the Unknown, the upcoming expansion for its open-world action game, and it is packed with new systems: ocean exploration, shipbuilding, romance and marriage, a deeper housing system, claimable castles, business management and a boss rush.
The DLC arrives on Thursday, October 29 at 3 p.m. PT, which is 5 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. ET, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. That date comes after Pearl Abyss pushed the release back two weeks in late September to give the team more time to polish it.
New stories and a whole ocean
Charting the Unknown adds three new storylines, one each for Kliff, Oongka and Damiane, which can be started from the Journal after finishing the main story. A separate ocean-focused storyline opens up earlier, after the “Howling Hill” chapter.
All three characters can now dive below the surface of Pywel’s seas to find ruins, treasure chests, new creatures and mounts. Staying underwater uses up breath, so gear like a diving suit will help. Once your Greymane Camp is set up at Howling Hill, a questline unlocks shipbuilding. You can send comrades on a building mission at a port or buy a ship from a Fleet Office manager, then sail the Great Ocean of Pywel, fight at sea and set up new strongholds.
Romance, castles and businesses
Building trust with some of Pywel’s residents can now lead to romance and even marriage, and close friends may visit the Greymane Camp once it is upgraded. An upgraded housing system lets you design a home from the ground up, and three specific castles can be claimed and decorated after you liberate them.
The DLC also lets you rent and run businesses around the world, from a restaurant in Vellua to a smithy at Zargan Tankworks, assigning staff and deciding what to sell. For players who just want a fight, the new Garden of Trials throws bosses from across your adventure at you one after another.
It is a big expansion for a game that has kept growing since launch. Post-launch support has been a theme across big RPGs this fall, from Crimson Desert’s steady patches to updates like The Blood of Dawnwalker’s version 1.1. Crimson Desert players have just over a week to finish the main story if they want to jump straight into the new character arcs.
