Must-Play AAA RPG Is Crimson Desert With Multiplayer, Free Update Next Month

Crimson Desert finally has some competition in the form of a multiplayer AAA RPG, which is getting a free overhaul update next month.

Last year it was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 but this year, the gaming craze has been Crimson Desert and for good reason.

Taking notes from open-world masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Crimson Desert has delivered an open-world sandbox that gamers are still getting lost in weeks after launch.

It's going to be a contender for 2026’s Game of the Year award, for sure, and while this next game won’t be stealing its trophy, it may just steal the limelight.

Multiplayer Crimson Desert Rival Gets Major Overhaul

Next month, an Unreal Engine 5 update will be released for the 2017 multiplayer RPG Conan Exiles.

Conan Exiles is an open-world survival game developed and published by Funcom and can be played either alone or with friends.

It boasts an expansive world filled with quests to complete and monsters to face and it’s still being supported to this day.

The next step in the game’s journey is giving it a visual makeover as on 5 May, an enhancement update will be released, remastering its graphics with Unreal Engine 5.

Now known as Conan Exiles Enhanced players, will be able to continue with their previous character or make brand-new ones.

The update will also merge the two in-game locations, the Isle of Siptah and the Exiled Lands, into one combined map, making open-world exploration more intuitive than ever. Even better is this has had no negative impact on the install size. In fact, it’s actually been reduced from 120GB to 40GB.

It’s the graphical overhaul that’s most impressive though and you can see a side-by-side of the old visuals compared to the new in the update’s announcement video.

Eight years of blood, sand, and sorcery have led to this: Conan Exiles Enhanced!
Experience all the survival content in this free fully upgraded version.
✨ Stunning Unreal Engine 5 visuals
⛰️ Merged Isle of Siptah & Exiled Lands
👥 Multiple character support
🖥️ Revamped UI pic.twitter.com/2Wq6IKxPwP

— Conan Exiles (@ConanExiles) April 23, 2026

For those who prefer the original graphics, a separate version titled Conan Exiles Legacy will remain available as a standalone release.

Conan Exiles Is A Crimson Desert Competitor You Shouldn’t Sleep On

While Crimson Desert is widely considered a masterpiece, there are elements of Conan Exiles that place it leagues ahead, despite it being released so many years prior.

The big one is,of course, the multiplayer as Crimson Desert is a single-player game, and while Pearl Abyss is no stranger to MMOs like Black Desert, we doubt it’s going to change its latest game’s DNA anytime soon.

Stay tuned though as there’s bound to be a team of modders out there currently working on a co-op expansion, there always is.

For those seeking an open-world RPG you can play with friends now, Conan Exiles looks like the game for you especially after the new update drops.

Conan Exiles’ enhancement update will be released on 5 May for the Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC versions of the game.

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