I've been compiling screenshots of suspicious assets as I've spent over 150 hours in Crimson Desert in the last couple of weeks, and for the most part I've given Pearl Abyss the benefit of the doubt when it comes to AI-generated art in their brand-new, big-budget open world game.
However, some recent screenshots that have appeared online have made me go back and scrutinize a little harder, and it appears that a number of the paintings, portraits and other illustrated design work found in Crimson Desert, are AI-generated. And poorly at that.
I have reached out to Pearl Abyss for comment.
There is a lot of AI-generated stuff on the walls in Crimson Desert. In almost every manor house that I've investigated now, from Oakenshield Manor in Hernand to Marni's House in Deleysia, the paintings share the unmistakable smear of poor AI-generation. I'm not talking up-to-date Nano Banana 2. This is some rudimentary AI. It reminds me a lot of those early days of Dall-E.
Everywhere you turn, there are weird paintings on the walls. Portraits with no eyeballs, castles that make no sense, group paintings where everyone shares some bizarre...
