Crimson Desert’s Charting the Unknown DLC unlocks at 3pm PT on 29 October, which is 6pm ET, 10pm in the UK and 9am on 30 October in Sydney. It goes live at the same moment everywhere, 22:00 UTC, on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and the Epic Games Store, and it costs $24.99 or £19.99 on Steam. It’s a good time to be releasing.
Key takeaways
- Charting the Unknown unlocks at 22:00 UTC on 29 October: 3pm PT, 6pm ET, 10pm UK and 7am on 30 October in Japan and Korea.
- It costs $24.99 (£19.99) and needs the base game, which is $69.99. A base game patch comes out at the same time, for everyone.
- The three new character stories need the main story finished. The ocean, ships and diving open earlier, after Howling Hill.
What time does Crimson Desert Charting the Unknown release?
Charting the Unknown releases at 22:00 UTC on Thursday 29 October. Pearl Abyss lists the times by region in its release date update, and it’s one global launch, so nobody gets it early.
| Where you are | Release time |
|---|---|
| US West Coast (PT) | 3pm, Thursday 29 October |
| US East Coast (ET) | 6pm, Thursday 29 October |
| UK (GMT) | 10pm, Thursday 29 October |
| Central Europe (CET) | 11pm, Thursday 29 October |
| Japan and Korea | 7am, Friday 30 October |
| Sydney (AEDT) | 9am, Friday 30 October |
PC Gamer lists the UK at 9pm, but the clocks went back on 25 October, so 22:00 UTC is 10pm in the UK now. Only PlayStation gets a preload, and PC Gamer says the DLC needs 50GB of space on top of the 135GB base game. Pearl Abyss also asks you to install the base game patch that lands alongside it before you launch. games.gg has the full release date breakdown if you want it.
Is Charting the Unknown worth $24.99?
DLC seven months after launch? I think it’s about right. It depends how much the DLC is going for, right? Like, is it actually DLC, or is it something that could have been included in the base game where they’re just trying to milk more money out of their players?
So here’s what the $24.99 gets you, going by the Steam page and Pearl Abyss’s features post. There are three new storylines, one each for Kliff, Oongka and Damiane, plus a separate ocean storyline. You can build your own ship and sail the Great Ocean, and dive underwater for ruins, treasure chests, new creatures and mounts.
On the land side, there’s romance and marriage with characters you get close to, an upgraded housing system that lets you build a house from the ground up, three Greymane castles to claim and decorate, and businesses to rent and run, from a restaurant in Vellua to a smithy at Zargan Tankworks. Garden of Trials is a boss rush against bosses you’ve already fought, open once you’ve cleared the main questline, with rewards at the end.
Some of it is gated. The three character stories start from the Journal once you’ve finished the main story. The ocean questline opens after you complete Howling Hill and set up your Greymane Camp there. $24.99 is a bit over a third of the base game’s $69.99 price on Steam.
Have I played Crimson Desert?
I think I played Crimson Desert. I’m pretty sure I also refunded it, because I didn’t like it. It was too slow, and something was just not for me. So would a DLC get me to buy the base game? Nope. I already had the base game.
I do see the appeal of it, and I have watched people playing Crimson Desert. There’s just the difference between me playing it and watching someone else play it. I don’t know what it is. It must be a skill issue, or a lack of time to get to the parts these other people are at.
What has Pearl Abyss added since launch?
Crimson Desert came out on 19 March, and Pearl Abyss has kept patching it ever since. Steam shows 47 sets of patch notes between launch day and 23 September, about one every four days. Cross-save arrived in July.
The big one was Crimson Desert Enhanced on 25 August, a free update for everyone who owned the game. It added new cutscenes and story moments, five new voice languages and new skills, and the game has carried the Enhanced name since. Charting the Unknown was first due on 15 October, and on 30 September Pearl Abyss pushed it back two weeks for “a more polished and stable gameplay experience”.
Is launching three weeks before GTA 6 a good idea?
I would think anything releasing too close to GTA 6 has to be confident in its performance. GTA 6 lands on 19 November on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, three weeks after Charting the Unknown. I already wrote about buying GTA 6 day one even though I need a PS5 first. An analyst told GamesRadar this week that nearly one in three US gamers plan to buy it.
The DLC’s Twitch Drops event runs for two weeks from launch, finishing on 11 November, more than a week before GTA 6 comes out. Week one’s rewards work for everyone with the base game, and week two’s only for DLC owners.
FAQ
What time does Charting the Unknown release in the UK?
10pm GMT on Thursday 29 October. That’s 22:00 UTC, the same moment as 3pm PT and 6pm ET.
How much is Crimson Desert Charting the Unknown?
$24.99 or £19.99 on Steam. You need the base game, which is $69.99.
Do you need to finish Crimson Desert to play the DLC?
For the three new character stories, yes. The ocean questline opens earlier, once you’ve completed Howling Hill and set up your Greymane Camp.
