Crimson Desert is probably one of the biggest titles in March 2026. The open-world adventure will be released in about 2 weeks. Now it has reached a new milestone that already hints at how big the game could become.
What is this milestone? The official account for Crimson Desert posted on x.com that it has already achieved 3 million wishlist entries. It is unclear whether this refers only to Steam or all other platforms (PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Epic Games), but the number is still impressive.
This not only shows how much interest the new game from Pearl Abyss has generated, it already hints at how big the game might become, especially when compared to other titles in the past.
One of the most anticipated games of 2026
How good are 3 million wishlist entries? First looking at the Steam page of Most Wanted
, Crimson Desert is currently in 6th place. That is impressive, especially considering that games like Slay the Spire 2 or Subnautica 2 are ranked above it.
According to the analytics firm The Alinea Insight, Subnautica 2 had 3.8 million wishlist entries in February 2026. That is enormous and shows how popular the predecessor is. Above Crimson Desert is Forza Horizon 6, which according to The Alinea Insight had 2.6 million entries in February 2026. However, these numbers should be taken with caution, as they cannot be directly viewed on Steam.
Another good comparison would be Black Myth: Wukong. According to journalist Paul Tassi from Forbes, the Chinese action RPG reached 4 million wishlist entries before its release. On Steam (via SteamDB), the game peaked at 2.4 million concurrent players. This gave it the second-highest peak on Steam of all time.
However, there are also negative examples like The Day Before. It was at one point the most wished-for game on Steam but turned into a disaster.
What does all this mean for Crimson Desert? Crimson Desert is quite ambitious. It has not only a linear main story but countless side activities, a large open world, a parkour system, various weapons, and much more.
As a major AAA title, Crimson Desert could appeal to many users and, if the reviews and hype are right, encourage them to purchase the game and thereby attract many players directly at launch on various platforms. The game does not have major AAA competition at its release on March 19, 2026.
At the same time, the stakes are high if the game cannot fulfill all its ambitions. MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz took a closer look at the game and noticed parallels to another open-world hit: Crimson Desert is a solo experience with MMO scope and could be just as successful as the big RPG surprise of 2025
