Pearl Abyss addressed the inconvenient controls, which were cited as a major drawback of Crimson Desert, through a patch on the 23rd. Since then, the overall Steam user rating has climbed from 'Mixed' to 'Mostly Positive'.

The patch plan was announced on the 21st, shortly after the launch of Crimson Desert, and the details can be found in the patch notes released on the 23rd. Overall, various issues in quests, combat, graphics settings, and optimization were addressed, and convenience was improved by refining the controls.

First, hotkeys for opening and closing menus have been added for keyboard/mouse players: 'I' for Inventory, 'K' for Skills, 'J' for Adventure Journal, and 'M' for Map. Additionally, players can now holster their equipped gear by re-selecting it in the quick-slot. Responsiveness for main menus, interaction UI, jump inputs, and character movement has also been improved. These general control improvements are expected to make navigating menus and character movement much smoother.

Furthermore, a storage function has been added to supply boxes, and 'Abyss Traces' have been introduced for fast travel in the field. The 'Learn by Watching' feature for skills now only requires one interaction to acquire the skill, and the QTE difficulty for the arm-wrestling mini-game has been lowered.

Additionally, the time and conditions required to acquire skills have been relaxed, accelerating character growth. Gathering activities have become less tedious, with reduced hits required for logging and the ability to mine bismuth ore with a standard pickaxe. Survival has also become easier with increased health recovery from food and new items added to shops.

Measures to reduce combat fatigue have also been implemented. The health and attack power of major enemies and bosses have been reduced, and stamina consumption while guarding has been lowered. Moreover, new strategic advantages have been added; destroying enemy base structures now reduces the enemy's maximum health or attack power, allowing players to gain an edge in combat.

Patches for technical stability were also included. PS5 and Xbox players can now toggle a 120Hz mode in the game options, and the issue where the game would intermittently crash when opening the world map on PS5 has been fixed. Additionally, issues with GPU recognition on certain versions of Windows 10 were resolved, and performance optimization was conducted across both PC and console. Other improvements include fixes for stamina not being consumed during story sequences and awkward character animations.

Pearl Abyss stated that they will continue to resolve issues based on user feedback. The developers mentioned in the patch notes, "We are continuously monitoring the player experience through bug reports, as well as various opinions from videos, live streams, and community forums. These control improvements are just the beginning, and we plan to continue refining the experience for both controllers and keyboard/mouse users."