Crimson Desert DLC delayed as Pearl Abyss admits Charting The Unknown needs more time

Crimson Desert's first paid DLC Charting The Unknown will now arrive slightly later than planned after Pearl Abyss confessed that it needed more time in the oven.

Charting The Unknown was scheduled to arrive on October 15 - a generous launch date for the expansion, considering that Crimson Desert itself only launched earlier this year.

Thankfully, Pearl Abyss remains desperate to get the expansion into the hands of fans as it'll now arrive just a couple of weeks later.

"Hello Greymanes," the statement began. "We are hard at work on Crimson Desert Enhanced: Charting The Unknown to bring you new adventures to Pywel. However, we have determined that we need additional development time to deliver a more polished and stable gameplay experience. Therefore, we have decided to move the DLC's release by two weeks to October 29 GMT/PT."

It continued, "We know many of you have been looking forward to returning to the game and we sincerely apologise for the longer wait. We will use the additional time to further refine the content and do our utmost to deliver the best experience we can. We look forward to seeing you in Pywel on October 29 GMT/PT."

Pearl Abyss will not want to 'fix' the DLC post-launch as it somewhat had to do with the base game

It's the right move if the DLC isn't ready especially as, again, it's hardly as if players have been starved for content for very long. I'd imagine very few of those who picked up Crimson Desert on launch day in March have seen everything the enormous base game offers.

While Crimson Desert was well received at launch critically, it did prove to be unexpectedly jarring with players. Many felt the controls were a little too complicated and the world a little too zany. The experience has been improved by subsequent updates, particularly the changes to the story brought forth in the Enhanced Edition release.

What Pearl Abyss won't want to do is launch the DLC and once again have to refine it post-launch. A smooth launch would be preferable and if that requires a delay, so be it.

READ MORE: Crimson Desert DLC: Charting the Unknown release date, price and new features

There's still a lot about Charting The Unknown that we don't know with Pearl Abyss revealing very little since the DLC's unveiling.

It'll feature a new storyline for Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka, and it's one that'll take them to a new location comprising of multiple islands. There, players will face off against new threats.

Pearl Abyss

As the DLC takes place in an archipelago, it introduces a player-controlled ship as well as underwater exploration; the latter, you can either do simply by diving and swimming or via making use of new underwater mounts, with a shark mount having been confirmed.

The DLC is also due to expand base-building options and allow players to deepen their connection with NPCs, which makes it sound like romance options may be included. It's largely suspected that that's possibly why the DLC has been banned in several territories.

Thankfully, we're glad to report that fans of Crimson Desert appear to be very supportive of the DLC's delay.

"Keep up the great work, you are awesome," said one reply to the statement.

"Don't worry guys, we're all still in Hernand anyway," joked another, referring to the game's huge starting area.

Crimson Desert: Charting The Unknown is now yours to enjoy on October 29.