The world is supposed to be one of the greatest highlights of Crimson Desert. But how large is the continent Pywel? The community is speculating and discussing. MeinMMO summarizes what is actually known so far.
How large is Crimson Desert? The exact size of the game world and the content scope of Crimson Desert are not yet known in detail. What we do know:
- The world is said to be about twice the size of the playable open world of Skyrim (about 37 km², rating 92 to 96 on Metacritic) and also larger than the map of Red Dead Redemption 2 (about 75 km², rating 97 on Metacritic) – this was explained by Will Powers (Director of Marketing for Crimson Desert) in an interview during the New Game+ Showcase 2026 on YouTube.
- According to Will Powers, only a very small portion of the world and the available content has been seen at play events so far.
- It takes about 2 hours to ride from one end of the game world to the other on horseback – this was revealed by Will Powers in an interview with PC Gamer during the Summer Game Fest 2025 on YouTube.
- Will Powers also explained in the Podcast “Dropped Frames” that one can easily spend hundreds of hours in the game world. He did not want to be pinned down to a specific number.
The hype is picking up speed
Although (or because) there are hardly any concrete, officially confirmed figures from the responsible parties regarding the size of Crimson Desert, there is much speculation in the community. DarthKane17 claims on Reddit that the continent Pywel would be 80 km² and that it would take 6 hours on foot to walk from one end of the world to the other.
The more than 1,400 thumbs up indicate that the hype train for Crimson Desert has already left the station. However, many of the more than 550 comments acknowledge that this information should be taken with caution, as there is no official source.
In another post on Reddit, players speculate whether Crimson Desert could even surpass the game world of Black Desert. However, many consider this unlikely, as it has simply become overwhelmingly large due to frequent updates. Some even hope in the comments that Crimson Desert is not too large.
But no matter how large Pywel ultimately turns out to be, you won’t just travel the game world on foot or on horseback. There are also flying mounts and a fast travel system – although you must discover and activate the fast travel points through exploration.
With the MMORPG Black Desert, the developers at Pearl Abyss have already proven that they can create incredibly vast, diverse, and detailed worlds. However, size alone does not make a good game.
Therefore, Will Powers emphasizes in interviews that it is much more important what there is to do in the world and whether it is fun. What the open-world adventure is supposed to offer and why much of it reminds of Black Desert, you can find out here: Crimson Desert is a solo experience with MMO scope, could be as successful as the major RPG surprise of 2025
