When creating the massive open world of action game Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss Studio followed one main rule: if the player sees something on the horizon, he has to get there. Speaking at the Gamescom developer conference, the Environment team said gaining this “Horizon Trust” was a major goal when designing Pavel’s Land.
The developers point out that a beautiful visual style and interesting research are not the same thing. The team had to go through many challenges, balancing the incredible scale of the multi-biome world with its actual playability, ensuring that natural and large-scale landmarks became meaningful content and not just phosphorescent decorations.